Hate, To love you
by k.mccoy
Summary: William Darcy and Lizzie Bennet have always hated each other, and after a huge blow up William vows to never speak to Lizzie again, but what happens when Will starts dating Lizzie's best friend!
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

For as long as William Darcy could remember, he'd always had the inexplicable urge to stare at Elizabeth Bennet. The first time was the day they'd met at just five years old, Mrs. Ann Darcy had planned a play date for her two children, William and Georgiana with Mrs. Katherine Bennet and all three of the young Bennet girls, the twins Jane and Lizzie, and Lydia the youngest. Mrs. Darcy thought will would feel lonely with so many girls around so Will's favorite cousin Richard and his best friend Charlie came along with them. William had always been shy child and was never fond of meeting new people, and therefore kept to himself on the swing set as he watched everyone around him playing and laughing. As William sat on the swing lightly swinging back and forth Lizzie walked over to him "why are you just sitting here?" she asked not sure of how to answer the question Will just stared at her, she stood in silence for a while before saying "you're weird" and running off to play with the others. William spent the rest of that day starring at her.

On the first day of second grade William was sitting at his desk while everyone else was chattering away, William spotted Richard and Lizzie laughing away about something he'd always envied his cousins ease in making friends, he'd been watching them talk for quit sometime when Lizzie looked up at him and gave him a weird look _crap she noticed me staring!_ He thought as she approached him, "how come you're always staring at me?" Lizzie asked, in panic Will blurted out the first thing that came to his mind "why would I want to stare at you?!" Lizzie's amber eyes had grown wide as she looked at him "William Darcy your nothing but a jerk!" she yelled and stormed off in Richards direction "your cousin is a complete weirdo!" from that day on William and Lizzie would argue, mostly about something rude William had said her. William couldn't explain why he was so rude to her or why he couldn't fight the urge to stare at her when he thought no one else watched him, but he did every day like clockwork. One day during recess Will and Charlie were playing kick ball when the ball rolled over to where Lizzie and her best friend charlotte Lucas were playing "hey Lizzie, could you kick the ball back over!" William called, he was shocked to find her eyes ablaze as she yelled back "don't ever call me Lizzie again! Only my friends can call me that! And you can pick up your own dumb ball!" she said as she stuck out her tongue grabbed Charlotte and stormed off. Will stood there looking completely confused from that day he would only address her as Elizabeth.

For the next five years William and Lizzies arguing had become so fearsome they found themselves the principal's office quite often. One day both of their mothers were called in to pick them up. After both mothers had spoken with the principal, Mrs. Bennet was clearly furious with Lizzie "why can't you be more like Jane!" she'd said as walked out of the office; Lizzie rolled her eyes and walked out of the door behind her mother. Mrs. Darcy had said nothing to William until they'd almost arrived to Pemberly estate, she'd parked the car and turned to her son

"Will, honey what is it with you and Lizzie? Why cant you two ever seem to get along?" Will stares at his mother for a moment before averting his eyes and saying

"She just bugs me, nothing is ever good enough for Elizabeth! She finds any reason she can to start an argument with me" he lets out a heavy sigh before looking at his mother again.

"Well if she bugs you so much why do even speak to her at all?" Mrs. Darcy asked. Will had no explanation for his mother on this one, _why do I speak to her?_ He thought _I mean, I know nothing good ever comes when I say anything to Elizabeth_, seeing her sons obvious quizzical brow at her question she gave him a knowing smile _I see what's going on here_ she thought.

That night William had been up all night thinking of all the reasons there could possibly be for why he couldn't resist the urge to argue with Elizabeth, it had been going on so long it just seemed like a normal part of his day. The next day at school Will could hardly stay focused because he was so tired, he was dosing off in home room when his cousin Richard slammed his hands down on Wills desk startling him. "So are you going to Melissa's party this weekend" Richard asked

"I wasn't planning to" will replied

"Oh come on will! Our First boy-girl party you can't miss that!"

"I don't care about that, you know I don't like parties"

"Will if don't come I'll tell Auntie Ann that you're being your usual anti-social self, and she'll make you go anyway"

"Fine! I'll go"

Richard gave his cousin a satisfied head nod before heading back to his own desk.

The night of the party will was actually feeling pretty nervous. He knew Elizabeth would be there and he spent most of the previous school day avoiding her and his confusing thoughts of her. He'd been thinking about his mothers words all day and the only reason he could come up with is that…. Well, he liked arguing with Elizabeth. The way her dark eyes would brighten with anger, he always thought she looked so beautiful, not that he'd ever say that out loud to anyone. Will had tried to pretend that he didn't know why he thought that but he couldn't lie to himself anymore, he had major crush on Elizabeth Bennet. _But how's that even possible!? _Will thought as he got ready for the party "this is going to be the worst night of my life" he said as he looked at himself in the mirror. "Will your dads ready to go" Mrs. Darcy yelled for her son, Will marched down the steps looking completely miserable.

"Do I have go, you know I hate party's mom"

"Yes, you do William it'll be good for you to go have some fun with your friends"

Will sighed and quietly walked out of the door to the car where his dad was waiting for him. William Darcy senior could be just as quiet as his son sometimes and so they drove in silence until William junior broke the silence by saying

"Dad, if you like a girl but don't want to how do you make it go away?" William senior laughed at his son "now why exactly would you want to stop liking her?"

"Because it's completely irrational! I mean if you can't be around each other for more than a few minutes without arguing what would possibly possess that person develop feelings for that person!"

"This person wouldn't happen to be you, and this girl wouldn't happen to be little Lizzie Bennet would it" Mr. Darcy asked with a knowing smirk on his face when he saw the look of panic flash across his son's face.

"What!? Me and Elizabeth no way! I was just asking for uhh…. Richard"

"Oh ok, well tell Richard that there's no way to control having feelings for someone" Mr. Darcy said playing along with his son.

"So you're saying there's nothing I- I mean he can do about it?"

"Well son the good news is you guys are only thirteen so it'll pass, oh looks like we're here" Mr. Darcy said as he pulled into Melissa's drive way

"I hope you're right dad" will said before getting out of the car.

The party was in full swing when Will walked in, it had everything he hated about parties: loud music, too many people and worst of all dancing; will cringed at the idea of him dancing he absolutely hated it, Elizabeth teased him about for ages when she found out, thinking of her laugh made Will's heart do something funny _I have got to put an end to this _he thought. Just as Will was finding a corner to hide in for the remainder of the evening Richard found him.

"Oh no you are not hiding in a corner for the rest of the night"

"Look Rich, I came didn't I? Can you just leave me here?"

"No way! We're all about to play spin the bottle!"

"Oh there is no way playing that game!"

"Yeah you are, now come on" Richard said as he pulled his cousin into the party room where everyone else was. As they entered the room Will instantly spotted Lizzie, she looked amazing in her royal dress and her normally curly hair was straightened. Richard was dragging him in the girl's direction, at the same time Will's heart was beating so fast he was sure everyone could hear it. Lizzie was standing with her sister Jane and Charlotte

"Hey ladies" Richard said, "hey" they all said in unison. Will thought now would be good time to speak "hi, Will" Jane and Charlotte said, Elizabeth said nothing. Will thought for once maybe they could be civilized towards one another so he tried speaking to her directly "hi Elizabeth" he tried to give her a half smile until he saw her icy glare "Darcy" she snarled, Will sighed _how can I have crush on her!? _"Ok everyone we're starting the game!" the party host Melissa said "come into the circle" as everyone took their seat on the marble floor Will found himself sitting directly across from Lizzie _this is awkward _he thought. It was Will's turn to spin the bottle and of course it lands on Lizzie, not wanting to feel embarrassed from the horrible things he knew she was about to throw his way he offered to spin again "that's against the rules! You can't spin again you'll ruin the rotation of the game" Melissa cried "ya know you could do seven minutes in heaven if you guys want a little privacy" Richard said wiggling his eyebrows "I am not going into a closet Rich!" will replied through gritted teeth "I dare the both of you to seven minutes in heaven" Richard said with a triumphant smile "no Richard!" Will and Lizzie said at the same time "you have to do it now I dared you!" then everyone started chanting "do it, do it!" _I am going to kill rich!_ Will thought as he and Lizzie reluctantly walked into the closet. Once the door was closed Lizzie spoke up

"I cannot believe I'm stuck in this closet with you! I didn't even want to come to this stupid party!" "Me either" Will said quietly

"Well that's different you just hate parties, remember my 7th birthday party" Lizzie laughed and Will's heart did that flutter thing again. "Listen Elizabeth, we don't have to do anything I'm just going to tell them to open the door" Will had to escape this closet before he did or said something stupid. He was just about to pound on the door when lizzie put her hand on his shoulder "wait" she said quietly as he turned around she quickly dropped her hand and rolled her eyes " if you ever repeat this anyone I'll kill you! But I've uhh, never kissed a boy before" she was biting her lip the way she always did whenever she was anxious or nervous about something it was actually kind of cute, will thought. Wow, Lizzie had just reveled a secret to him "well I've never kissed a girl before" will thought he should be honest too. "So since you've never kissed anyone and I've never kissed anyone… maybe we should just get it over with" Lizzie said now shaking her leg "since we already know each other and everything" she added. Will felt like a robot malfunctioning he could hardly wrap his mind around what she had just said he didn't know what to say! On one hand he thought _I can't kiss Elizabeth! We hate each other _and on the other hand he thinks _but I really want to _but how could that be!? This stupid crush would never go away if that happened! "well say something dummy" lizzie said interrupting his thoughts "I'm nervous" will blurted out the truth before he could think of a good enough lie "well… we could uhh count to three" she offered "okay"

"1" Lizzie started

"2" Will followed as he began to close the gap between them

"3" they said in unison as their lips touched, Will felt a strange feeling shoot down his spin, it was slow and nervous at first until Lizzie pulled him closer and wrapped her arms around his neck. Shocked by the quick motion Will was still for a moment until he wrapped his arms around her waist. It seemed like the kiss would go on forever until she pushed him to the other side of the closet "you cannot tell anyone about this ok" she said "Elizabeth everyone is standing outside the door" will told her, it was these moments that confused him with Lizzie they had just shared their first kiss with each other and now she's back to being rude! "They know we can't stand each other, it hasn't even been seven minutes yet, we'll just pretend nothing happened. You won't tell Richard and Charlie and I won't say anything to Jane or Charlotte deal?" Lizzie stuck her hand out for Will to shake but he ignored her walked towards the closet door and pounded on it "you guys just let me out of here" he yelled, he was so angry he didn't know what to say to her he just wanted to get as far away from her as he possibly could. "Will promise me!" Lizzie tried again but at that moment Melissa opened the closet door "ugh you guys suck!" she said Will didn't say anything he just stormed out of the closet, and practically ran out of the front door before anyone had the chance to say anything. He stood outside for a few minutes wondering if he should call his parents to come pick him up, but decided to just walk, even though his estate was about 8 block away and sat on the highest hill in the county but he didn't care Will just wanted to be alone. He decided that he wouldn't ever tell anyone about that kiss or that he even had a crush on Lizzie to begin with, it was embarrassing and didn't want anyone to know that he'd ever been so stupid that would actually _like_ Elizabeth A. Bennet.

Back at the party Lizzie's heart was beating out of her chest she couldn't believe she had just shared her first kiss with William F. Darcy! But what was freaking her out more is she actually enjoyed kissing him _gross! _She thought _I mean it's not like I actually like him or anything I can't stand the guy! It was just a nice kiss_ she convinced herself. Lizzie walked over to her friend and sister "what did you do to Will to get him so upset Lizzie?" Jane asked "I didn't do anything we argued the way we always do" Lizzie lied she hated lying to her sister but she didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea. Will didn't promise that he wouldn't say anything which made Lizzie nervous _if he tells Richard everyone will know!_ She knew Rich couldn't keep a secret, the idea of everyone finding out about what happened wasn't the only reason Lizzie was so shaken up; what was really bothering her was the fact that she had wanted Will to kiss her in the first place. The whole thing was making Lizzies head spin.

Will had finally made it home from the party, luckily his parents weren't downstairs to ask him about his night it was the last thing he wanted to talk about. Will sulked into the kitchen thinking he was alone when he suddenly heard "hey Will" from his little sister Georgiana "jeez Gigi you scared the crap out of me" Will practically screamed "I'm guessing Lizzie ruined your night huh?" she said with one eyebrow raised "the night was ruined when I walked out of the house, Elizabeth just made it worse" Gigi knew her bother better than anyone sometimes better than he knew himself she could always sense when something was wrong

"Well what happened this time?" Gigi asked

"The same thing that always happens, we argued"

"You sure? You're more upset than usual"

"Your know I don't like parties Gi"

"I know but-"

"I'm fine Gigi, I just really want to be left alone please" will said

"Ok goodnight" Gigi said getting off the stool she was sitting on and leaving the room.

The next week of school Will had avoided Lizzie like the plague, no staring, no arguments no contact what so ever until she one day she finally caught him coming out of the boys locker room "look Elizabeth I'm not in the mood to argue" Will said immediately. Lizzie was completely taken aback by his reaction but she managed to keep calm "I don't want to argue either it's just that… well you never promised" she was biting her lip again Will decided to milk her nervousness "promise what?" he asked "you know what I'm talking about Darcy!" Lizzie was getting frustrated "ok well, if you're talking about what I think you're talking then no I won't promise you anything" Will stated triumphantly even though he never planned to tell anyone about what happened in that closet he didn't feel like he needed to share that with lizzie.

"William Fitzwilliam Darcy!" she yelled "why are you being so difficult!"

"I told you never to call me by my middle name ever!" Will said through gritted teeth

"Until you promise I'll be screaming it down the halls Fitzwilliam!" she yelled

"Well that's fine by me Elizabeth Anabelle Bennet!" he screamed even louder

"Ugh I hate you! You such an idiot!"

"Well I hate you more!"

"Don't ever speak to me again Darcy!"

"That's fine by me Elizabeth!" how could he have ever thought that he liked that girl!

How could she have ever enjoyed that kiss! William Darcy was the most arrogant, rude, stupid idiot jerk face she had ever met! If he never spoke to her again it would be too soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

It was the first day of senior year and Lizzie was feeling great "Finally we've come to the end of the road in this torture chamber they call high school!" she said, "chill Lizzie it's the first day we still have months before we can say that its over" Charlotte told her "don't blow my high char I'm in a really good mood this morning" Lizzie replied dryly. Lizzie had been waiting for the moment to finally say that she was a senior, her summer had been pretty much uneventful except the blended family vacation she and her family had taken with Darcy's to the Bahamas, talk about awkward I mean it wasn't like she didn't have a good time, the trip was amazing they'd stayed at the Darcy's beach house which was just as beautiful as the island itself and her sisters always made even dullest trip fun even Gigi Darcy had become like a sister to her despite the fact that she and Will never got along, but what made it awkward was well… Will of course. After their huge blow up in seventh grade they didn't speak to each other again until freshmen year of high school and that conversation wasn't pretty, after that they never spoke and Lizzie was convinced that Will had been avoiding running into her to make sure of that. William Darcy has always been a quiet guy so that came as no surprise but during the entire vacation he just seemed miserable like he just really didn't want to be there; He moped around all the time and when all the kids were on the beach at night sitting around a fire laughing he would just sit there and say nothing, lizzie knew he was acting that way because she was there. One night when she had gone done into the kitchen for a drink when she'd overheard Gigi and Will talking

"Will you and I always have so much fun on this trip why are you acting so miserable?"

"I'm sorry Gi I don't mean to be" he had said

"Maybe you and lizzie should just talk"

"Oh no, I promised mom and dad no arguing between us you know no good ever comes from Elizabeth and I speaking to each other"

"I think you're being just a bit dramatic big brother"

"Gigi you don't get it Elizabeth hates me, the best thing we can do for the sake of everyone's happiness on this trip is to just stay away from each other"

At that moment Lizzie ran back to her room, she didn't know why his words had hurt her feelings I mean it was true all they ever did was argue but he didn't have to act so miserable just because she was there.

"So Lizzie did you check your roster? Do we have any of the same classes?" her friend Olivia asked, Olivia had moved from los Angeles to san Francisco at the start of freshmen year she lizzie, and charlotte had been thick as thieves ever since.

"Umm let me check" Lizzie said pulling her roster out of her bag at same time Olivia was looking at her own. "I have an AP English class for 3rd, how about you?" Olivia asked her "yup I sure do, which is perfect we'll get twice as much work done" lizzie replied "oh yeah, char do we have any classes together?" she added "sorry I'm taking all AP classes with Rich this semester, and I already took AP English so I pretty much won't see guys until study hall and lunch" charlotte told them, the girls looked from charlotte to each other and with a grin both gave her look "did you plan to take all your AP classes with Richard?" lizzie asked "oh my god lizzie, you know I don't think of Richard like that" charlotte said blushing "sure you don't and I don't hate Darcy's guts" lizzie said rolling her eyes "I think Will is sweet" Olivia chimed in lizzie paused, "Liv, did you just say what I think you said?"

"He's just shy that's all" liv said

"Yeah a shy asshole" Lizzie muttered, why was Liv suddenly defending Will?

"Okay… well girls we should probably get to class" charlotte said

As the three of them parted ways Lizzie headed to her first class of the day, poetry. As she walked into class and took her seat she took a look around the room to see if she knew any familiar faces, no one she knew was there except… _oh god! Are you kidding me right now Darcy has this class, shoot me now_? Will was sitting right next to her as she looked around they made eye contact "hello Elizabeth" he said flatly, she hated that he always called her Elizabeth, he knew that it bugged her! "Darcy" Lizzie replied with a head nod. All of a sudden Lizzie's positive outlook on this semester was looking pretty bleak, _great now I'm gonna have Darcy's stupid blue eyes staring at me all period _she thought he'll just be sitting there starring and judging like he always does. At that moment the teacher walked in and introduced herself "good morning class, my name is Mrs. Hanson I'll be your instructor for the semester" she started "now I'm sure that poetry doesn't exactly excite many of you, but by the end of this class I am hoping that you all will at least develop an appreciation for the art" she said with a smile. Lizzie didn't really know much about poetry so she actually was interested to learn about it. "Now do any of you guys know what a haiku is?" as Mrs. Hanson looked around the room and no one raised their hand to answer "anybody want to at least take a guess" she said with a small laugh "a haiku is a short poem that usually doesn't rhyme" Will said with his hand raised,_ show off _Lizzie thought "very good Mr…" the teacher trying said to get his name.

"It's Darcy, William Darcy"

"Mr. Darcy excellent definition, thank you for that, so what I want to do is get you all better acquainted with one another; so what I'd like you to is turn to your neighbor chat a little bit and learn three things about that person and write a haiku about what you learned" great the last thing Lizzie wanted to do was have to look at Darcy's stupid face for 15 minutes. As the teacher instructed everyone turned their desk towards their neighbor, Lizzie began to turn her desk as Will turned his to face each other. She expected to see the same look of disgust that she felt on Will's face but his face was stone as usual, "so… do you still enjoy reading?" he asked, Lizzie was surprised to know that he remembered that about her. as she looked up at him her heart skipped a beat his deep blue eyes were looking directly into hers, Will had always had this weird way of looking into people's eyes when he spoke to them it was something that had always made Lizzie slightly uncomfortable, but up until a second ago she had never noticed that his eyes were so incredibly handsome. They were the perfect shade of blue and green just like ocean, and they seemed to be sparkling as they looked at her, lizzie shook her and answered him "umm, yes I do still like to read" Lizzie could feel her face getting hot she couldn't believe she'd just found herself thinking something like about _Darcy _of all people.

"Okay good to know" Will said writing it down in his note book

"Do you still play piano?" Lizzie asked she remembered that Will was actually pretty good at it.

"Umm not very often only sometimes" Will said with a slight smirk

"Okay… so I think maybe we should try to learn two new things about each other" Lizzie said mirroring his smirk

"Yes I guess that sounds about right" as they sat there Lizzie realized this was the first civil conversation they've had in years, for once Will wasn't being his usual jerky self maybe this semester wouldn't be so bad.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Ever since their huge blow up in 7th grade William had made a promise to himself that not only would he get over his crush on Lizzie he also vowed to never again have any unnecessary contact with her ever again. This was surprisingly easy, he'd simply figured out a full proof system to avoiding her. At the start of freshmen year Will would check his class schedule online and look up the students that shared the same class if Lizzie was in one of those classes he would change his schedule, it might sound a bit drastic but after the kiss Will was determined to get rid of his feelings for lizzie. In their sophomore year Jane and Charlie started dating, and Will was happy for his friend because he knew that Charlie had been head over heels for Jane for a really long time, but he couldn't help putting distance between himself and his best friend, because let's face it more Jane meant more Lizzie. He felt bad for treating his friend like that but Lizzie was nothing but trouble for him and being in her company was never a good idea.

The summer before senior year, Will's parents announced that they'd be taking be their annual vacation to the Bahamas and that the Bennet family would be coming as well. Will had been packing his suitcase, when his now fifteen year old sister Gigi came and laid across his huge bed.

"Soo, how are you feeling about Lizzie coming on the trip" she asked

"Do you want the truth or a fancy lie?" he asked stone faced

"The truth, of course"  
"I don't even want to go anymore" he sighed

"Seriously Will!?" Gigi exclaimed "it is not going to be that bad"

"I know, I know I'm not even going to have any contact with her… I just wish mom hadn't invited them it's going to be pretty hard to avoid Elizabeth for entire week in the same house" Will said closing his suitcase "well, mom said Richard could come so that should make it easier on you, you won't be the only guy there I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think" Gigi told her big brother. Georgiana never said anything to her brother but she knew that he had feelings for Lizzie even if he didn't, but she knew that her brother was kind of a robot and would totally malfunction if she mentioned it. She could tell how uncomfortable it made him talking about Lizzie so she decided to leave the subject alone, but eventually she would get the truth out of him. During the entire trip Will had been completely miserable, he didn't mean to be but he didn't feel like he could be himself in Lizzie's presence. One night after everyone had gone inside Will decided to take some much needed alone time and stayed on the beach watching the beautiful pink and orange sunset turn into a starry lite night sky; it was the first time he'd felt content during the trip but that was quickly interrupted when he heard the sound of her voice

"Uhh, Darcy… your mom asked me to get you" Lizzie said from behind him. When Will turned around to look at her she was biting her lower lip and shaking her leg in that cute way she always did when she was nervous, which was confusing because why would she be nervous around him?

"Umm, ok I'll be in, in a second" Will told her, and then the strangest thing happened, she sat down next to him in the sand. They were quiet for a moment before Lizzie spoke first

"So I wasn't ease dropping or anything but I kind of overheard you and Gigi talking last night" she was still biting her lip, and Will's heart was beating so fast he was sure she could hear it.

"Lizzie I didn't mean to- I mean didn't mean for to hear what I said"

"I know and I really wanted to be angry with you but I couldn't because you were right"

"I was?" he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yeah all we've ever done our whole life is argue and you've been mopping around this island since we got here, and Gigi said that you'd been looking forward to this trip all summer" they hadn't looked at each other since Lizzie had sat down, Lizzie put her hand on Will's knee sending chills down his spin and left her hand burning; it immediately caused them to look right at each other and she quickly removed her hand.

"So I think we can come to an agreement, we can have fun for the last two days of this trip and stop acting weird around each other and then when we get back to San Francisco you can go back to pretending that I never existed" lizzie said letting out a small laugh.

"Ok we can I think we could manage that" he said smiling exposing a dimple Lizzie never knew he had. For the duration of the trip Will and Lizzie had gotten along pretty well and he was finally able to enjoy all the island had to offer.

Just because they'd had a nice trip didn't meant that things would change back home, but this semester Will made a new promise to himself, he was going to enjoy his last year of high school and that meant being more mature when it came to Lizzie. So, he decide that he wasn't going to change his schedule if it turned out she was in one of his classes, and as it turned out she was in two of them, first period poetry and his third period AP English class. As Will entered his English class he noticed that Olivia Hart also had this class, he and Olivia had spent some time together over the summer because she had done the internship program at Pemberly Digital with him. William's father thought it would be a good idea to start grooming him to one day take over the company, Will and Olivia had worked on many projects together and had gotten to know each other Will thought Olivia was really nice, and smart, and funny he also thought she was cute. Will had thought about asking her out but he worried that it would be awkward because Lizzie was her best friend. When Olivia spotted him walk into the class instantly smiled at him and waved for him to sit next to her, Will took his seat and was smiling from ear to ear

"Well hello Ms. Olivia" he said bowing his head

"You're such a freak" she said laughing "I had no idea you had this class"

"Yeah this is my last AP requirement I thought I should get it over with"

"Well did you hear the two love birds are taking all of their AP classes _together_?" Liv said wiggling her eyebrows.

"Are you still on that? This is a private magnum school and Richard is lazy he only waited until charlotte was taking her requirements so she could help him"

"Oh, you mark my words Mr. Darcy I'm a girl I know these things" Olivia said laughing

Since their internship Liv had been thinking a lot about Will and she had finally decided that she would take matters into her own hands and ask Will out. They had had so much fun working together Liv had developed a huge crush on him but knew if there would be a right time to say so. She couldn't figure out why Will and Lizzie hated each other so much Will was so nice, I mean sure he was kind of a robot at times but it was kind of cute and funny. Olivia had never told Lizzie about where she had interned over the summer or that she liked Will because she wasn't sure how she would react to the news, she had also made a promise to herself for her senior year that she would be fearless and do whatever made her happy.

In the middle of their laughter reminiscing about the summer Lizzie walked into the classroom, she couldn't believe her eyes, her best friend and sworn enemy _talking and laughing_ with each other Lizzie didn't even know that Darcy-bot was even capable of laughter he was always so serious. Lizzie quietly sat on the opposite side of Olivia as she continued to watch the exchange they hadn't even noticed her sitting there until Will spotted her and instantly grew silent, at that moment Liv turned around "oh hey Lizzie" she said cheerfully.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Lizzie had been so annoyed the entire third period class, after the instructor introduced himself as Mr. Calloway he did what every teacher had done that day told them to break off into pairs to get to know each other better. During this time Will and Olivia had laughed and talked like they had known each other their entire lives, after the class was over the girls caught up with charlotte and finally spotted Jane for the first time all day. "Well if isn't my phantom sister I thought Charlie might have kidnapped you" Lizzie said Jane's cheek instantly turned rosy "oh Lizzie stop it, Charles and I went for breakfast this morning" although they were all seniors Charles and Jane would be finishing high school in December because they had both gone to summer school and therefore were only required to spend half the day at school.

"I can't believe your graduating early we were supposed to do that together" Lizzie pouted  
"Well Lizzie I will be graduating with you guys I'll just be finished sooner, and we're still going to college together next fall, it changes nothing" Jane said squeezing her arm.

"Yeah I know, just wanted you to be here endure this last year of torture with me"

As the girls made their way into cafeteria and took their seats Lizzie couldn't wait to grill Liv about what happened in English class.

"So what was all that with Darcy in English Liv?" Lizzie asked "you two were acting like you were friends" Jane and Charlotte instantly turned to look at Olivia whose face had a look of complete shock, she didn't know what to say.

"It was nothing we were just catching up that's all" she said looking done at her food

"I didn't know you guys had anything to catch up on…" Lizzie said with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"So what exactly where you guys talking about" Charlotte asked

"Just the summer…" Liv said still not looking at any of the girls

"Okay spill it what's going on between you and Will?" Char asked, Lizzie hadn't realized it but she was holding her breath the entire time she was anxious to find out what was going on.

"Okay, Okay… you remember the internship I did over the summer, well it was at Pemberly digital and Will and I got to know each other pretty well" she said smiling

"Well how come you never told me" Lizzie asked  
"because anytime someone mentions his name you act like he punched your grandma in the face yesterday!" Liv said "that's not true! Will just grates on my nerves, and the fact that you two are all chummy is just weird" Lizzie told her.

"Well, that's why I didn't tell you because I knew you'd react like that" Olivia said rolling her eyes

"Soo, do you _like_ Will?" char asked, Liv immediately began to blush

"Umm, yeah well kind of I mean he never asked me out or anything but I think he likes me too, we had such a great time over the summer" she told them "but I think maybe he's just shy he can be kind of a robot" Liv said letting out a small laugh at the memories. The girls watched her face light up as she talked about Will "well I think that's the sweetest thing I've ever heard" Jane finally spoke up "and you're right he's probably just nervous about asking you out, I think you should make the first move" Charlotte said clapping her hands. Lizzie couldn't believe it, her best friend and her sworn enemy _dating_! It was a thought should just couldn't wrap her mind around, it's not that she didn't want to Liv to be happy but _Darcy_ come on she could do so much better. Lizzie had only seen Will date one other girl during high school and that was Charlie's awful sister Caroline and for those two months he looked miserable, but never in a million years did she ever think that he would like her best friend. Lizzie had never told Olivia why she and Will couldn't stand each other and she definitely never _anyone _about their kiss, so she thought maybe she shouldn't be upset if they started dating, right?

"So Lizzie what do you think" Liv asked Lizzie hadn't been listening to the girls conversation because she was so into her own thoughts "I'm sorry what?" she asked

"What do you think about me asking Will out?" Liv looked nervous. Lizzie wanted to say _HELL NO!_ But who was she to tell her that she couldn't date him? And more importantly why would she care I mean it's not as if liked Will; Lizzie forced a smile as she said "uhh sounds good…" as the girls chattered on about dates Lizzie remained completely silent, for some reason she felt… well sad was the only word she could think of and she had no idea why.

Once school was out Liv went to her after school job at the library, so Lizzie and char decided to have lunch.

"So you've been awful quiet" char said "something on your mind"

"No I'm fine" Lizzie lied  
"no you're not ever since Liv told us that she likes Will you've been as quiet as a church mouse, talk to me"

"It's just… why wouldn't she tell me? I wouldn't have reacted the way she thought and I mean William F. Darcy!? come on she could do so much than him he's nothing but a robot jerk that thinks he's better than everyone!" lizzie said in a huff

"Lizzie, you and Will have hardly spoken in five years he's practically a stranger to you he could be completely different from the guy you remember in 7th grade" Char said "And if what you're saying is true then Liv can make her own decision about the person he is"

"Them dating is just too gross to even think about" Lizzie said with a look of disgust on her face

"I mean come on Lizzie you've got to admit Will is pretty hot, with his all his muscles and broad shoulders, and messy dark hair oh! And those eyes!" Char gushed

"Okay so do all my friends now have a thing for Darcy!?"Lizzie said in frustration

"Don't you dare try to tell me you haven't checked him out before" Char said wiggling her eyebrows. "Gross! Of course not! I would never check out Will!" she almost yelled, but she was of course lying well partially at least, she did check him but it was totally by mistake! During their family vacation Will never wanted to join in on any of the fun but after their talk on the beach he started to loosen up. She was coming out of the sliding doors of the beach house that led down to the beach when she saw Will with Gigi on his shoulders, William stood about 6'3 and with clothes on he looked like regular slim, fit guy but down on the beach he was completely shirtless and was everything but slim his muscles were huge and rippling for him to only be seventeen, his abs were ridiculously defined and his messy dark was wet from the ocean as he spun Gigi around. Lizzie had been mesmerized by the sight watched him shamelessly from the top of the patio twirling her necklace in between her fingers and breathing heavily, until she realized what she had been doing and ran back inside but that wasn't something she was going to share with Charlotte or anyone else for that matter. Lizzie would never admit that she thought Will was attractive, and although it was true that she and Will had hardly spoken in the past few years the times they had spoken hadn't been all bad, Lizzie had just never gotten over the person she remembered him as when she was thirteen and a part of never wanted to it made it easier to loath him that way and the way he'd been avoiding her over the years made it clear that he wanted the same.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Will came home to find Richard and Charlie sitting in his kitchen with Gigi

"How is that I see you guys all day at school and I come home to find you in my kitchen eating my cookies that I know Nanny Reynolds made for me" Will greeted in a huff

"Oh jeez Charlie I forgot how touchy he can be about his nanny Reynolds" Richard said in a baby voice, which made Gigi and Charlie giggle like school girls.

"Shut up" Will said dryly snatching the plate of warm cookies from the table "what are you guys doing here anyway"  
"Well we were going ask if you wanted to come the bond fire tonight" Charlie said

"You guys know I hate parties" Will said

"It's not a party it's a bond fire a semester kick off" Richard told him

"It'll be a crowd of drunk high school kids getting naked and jumping into the ocean" Will said

"You literally suck the fun out of everything you know that Will?" Richard said

"I think your girlfriend will be there" Gigi chimed in nudging him in the arm  
"Oh don't tell me you're dating awful Caroline again, no offense Charlie but your sister is terrible" Richard said "none taken, I'm so glad she graduated and is away at college" Charlie said taking another bite of his cookie.

"No one is talking about Caroline, I don't know what Georgiana is talking about" Will was beginning to blush Gigi always knew just how to push his buttons.

"Well I'm talking about Olivia Hart of course" Gigi said trying to sound innocent

"Whoa Liv, Will nice choice" Richard said giving his cousin a thumbs up "you never did mention her after the internship was over" he finished

"Well there was really nothing to mention" Will told them

"Ahhh that means he never made a move" Charlie said hitting Richard in the chest  
"This is coming from the guy that took six years to finally ask out Jane" Will shot back  
"Hey at least I did it, which is more than you can say you're too worried about possibly having to be around Lizzie"

"Look I couldn't care less about seeing Elizabeth, I realized that I'm too old to keep trying avoid arguments with her, we can be in the same room with each other without arguing we had two classes together today and we didn't say one rude thing to each other" Will told them triumphantly. "So you didn't change your classes this semester?" Gigi asked

"Nope I'm not going to let Elizabeth dictate how I spend my last year of high school" he declared. After an hour Charlie and Richard left the Darcy mansion leaving Will alone with his little sister's questioning eyes.

"So are you going to ask Olivia out or what?" she said with her hands on her hips

"Georgiana I don't know I mean she seemed excited to see me today but… I don't know you know I've never been good with reading people"

"Ugh well you're never going to know if you don't make a move!"  
"Lizzie looked like she may have been upset that Olivia and I were talking, I guess she never mentioned that we knew each other" it was never Will's intention to tell his little sister everything it just always seemed to come flying out of his mouth, and for Gigi to be so young she had wisdom beyond her years.

"Sounds like she was jealous that you were hogging her bff" Gigi said shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah maybe… Gigi do you think Elizabeth would interfere if perhaps Olivia did like me?" Gigi laughed at brother, it was always so weird when he used such formal language it's hard to deprogram a Darcy-bot "no Will I don't think she'd do that" at that moment Will's phone rang the caller ID said Olivia, Will looked at his sister his eyes in a panic  
"answer the phone dummy" Gigi said hitting him in the shoulder. Will walked out of the living room and back to the kitchen and answered the phone "hey Liv" he said trying to sound casual

"Hey there Mr. Darcy" she greeted, Will laughed

"So I hope this isn't a bad time" she said  
"No, not at all"

"Good because I had something I wanted to say to you" Will was growing more anxious by the second. "I'm listening" he said  
"Well I really had great time working with you over the summer and I was hoping that it wouldn't be the end of our friendship…" Liv was quiet for second before she continued "I guess what I'm trying to ask you is would you maybe want to go out some time?" Olivia was holding her breath with the phone pressed closely to her ear.  
"Yeah absolutely, we could go down to the pier how does Saturday sound?" Will hoped that he sounded smooth and not his usual awkward self.

"That sounds perfect… so were you going to the bond fire tonight?"

"I wasn't planning to…" Will answered honestly

"Well that's too bad it could have been an unofficial first date" Liv said to him in a silky voice that let Will know she was flirting with him.

"Well I guess you'll just have to wait until Saturday" he flirted back

"I guess I will then…"

"So I'll see you tomorrow at school"  
"Okay well good night Will"

"Good night" Will said taking the phone away from his face to hang up  
"Well who were you using your bedroom voice on" Mrs. Darcy said smiling from the kitchen door way, Will jumped and turned around to face his mother "jeez mom you almost gave me a heart attack!" he yelled, Mrs. Darcy laughed at her son "I'm sorry sweetie, didn't mean to scare you" she said coming further into the kitchen "so are you going to tell me who was on the phone?" she asked again.

"It was uhh Olivia Hart… the girl that interned at the company this summer"

"Oh, are you two going out on a date?" Mrs. Darcy said with a knowing grin her face  
"you know, you and your daughter are two of a kind were you standing there the whole time?" he asked with an eyebrow raised, Mrs. Darcy only smiled at her son

"Ugh mom, you and Gigi can't just spy on me when you feel like it" Will said told his mother with a dimpled grin.

The next day at school Olivia couldn't wait to tell the girls that she had asked Will out!

Lizzie was going to be late because of her dentist appointment but that didn't mean she couldn't share her good news with Char.

"He said yes" Liv said clapping her hands together and running toward Char in schools parking lot.

"That's great!" char exclaimed "so when's the date?"

"This Saturday! I'm so excited I've gotta find something to wear!" Liv realized

"Relax, Liv me and Lizzie will help you find you something to wear" Char said flagging off her worries.

"Speaking of Lizzie… was it just me did it seem like Lizzie wasn't too thrilled about me asking out Will?" Olivia wasn't stupid she had definitely caught the vibe when she started talking about possibly dating Will in front Lizzie.

"Well, to be honest with you Lizzie just can't wrap her mind around Will being any different than the thirteen year old she spent most her time arguing with" Char didn't want to discourage Olivia, so she only told her friend half the truth.

"What the hell happened between them why do they hate each other?" Liv had never really gotten the story on why Lizzie didn't like Will, the only thing she'd ever said was that he was a jerk but from what Olivia could tell he was just awkward in a really cute way.

"Well to be perfectly honest with you Liv, I don't think Will ever hated Lizzie I think it's always been one big misunderstanding and Lizzie just never let it go, you know how stubborn she can be" Char said beginning to walk away from Olivia " I'll see you later Liv bells about to ring" she said waving. Olivia decided that she wasn't going to worry herself over Will and Lizzie anymore, it wasn't really that important and she figured Lizzie would eventually get over whatever it was she was feeling about the situation.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

After Lizzies dentist appointment she was feeling pretty tired so she decided not to go to school, she also wasn't in the mood to hear about Olivia asking Will out which she knew her friend would be excited to tell her. Lizzie was really trying to muster all the happiness she could find inside herself, but the thought of Olivia dating Will was really bothering her. She still couldn't believe that Will even put forth the effort to get to know Olivia over the summer, he hardly communicates with anyone he hasn't known since kindergarten, and Lizzie would have bet any amount of money that he'd stay away from Olivia just because she was Lizzies friend. Ever since their huge fight in 7th grade Will stuck to his guns and didn't speak to Lizzie or any one that was associated with her except Richard of course, he was never rude to Charlotte or Jane but he made it a point to steer clear of them; even after Jane and Charlie started dating Lizzie had noticed Will distancing himself from his best friend. In the beginning, Lizzie had been glad to be rid of his judgmental stares and snarky comments but then days turned to weeks, and weeks to months, and then her parents announced that the Bennet's and the Darcy's would be having dinner with each other one Sunday out of every month. It was at this first dinner that thirteen year old Lizzie Bennet felt the full wrath of being ignored by William Darcy, when everyone was seated at the dining table in the Darcy's huge dining room Will was nowhere to be found, when Mrs. Darcy asked where he was their Nanny Mrs. Reynolds had told everyone that Will wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be joining them. Lizzie Just knew that that wasn't true so half way through dinner she excused herself to the bathroom, and set off to find Will was so they could argue and things could go back to normal. As Lizzie searched for Will she was distracted by the sweet smell of cookies and followed her nose to the kitchen only to hear the sound of William's voice

"I don't ever want to speak to Elizabeth again" she heard him say, she couldn't help pressing her ear more closely to the kitchen door.

"William, you cannot hide in the kitchen and eat cookies every month" Mrs. Reynolds told him

"Well I'll hide some place they'll never find me" Will said

"Why do you all of a sudden want to hide from Lizzie so bad?"

The kitchen was silent and Lizzie's heart was pounding in her chest, _please don't tell her Will!_ She thought.

"Lizzie and I don't like each other and we just shouldn't be in each other's company" he finally told her "every time I try to be nice, I guess I never say the right things because she always manages to turn it into an argument and she's always calling me Darcy-bot and saying that I'm weird and… I just hate her"

At that moment Lizzie's heart sank, and she slowly backed away from the kitchen door she had heard enough. Over the next three years Will would refuse to join the family dinner, and every time Lizzie would feel a mixture of anger and sadness, anger because Darcy was being such a big baby about something so small and sadness because he really meant it when he told Mrs. Reynolds that he hated her, and the thought of any one disliking her so much that they couldn't stand to be in the same room with her really hurt Lizzies feelings. William was eventually forced by his mother to come to dinner and every dinner from there on out had been completely awkward and so filled with tension you could cut it with a knife.

As Lizzie sat on the side of her bed thinking about how awkward her relationship with Darcy had been Charlotte called.

"Hey Char"

"I know you're at home hiding" she accused

"No I'm not I got two fillings today I'm tired my mouth is still numb" Lizzie said defensively

"Oh please you just didn't want to hear about Liv asking out Will" _damn! How does that girl know me so well!?_ Lizzie thought

"So she did ask him then?" Lizzie asked biting her lip

"Yes and he said yes, and the least you could do is pretend to be happy for your best friend because she really seems to like William" Lizzie hated it when Char sounded like a chastising mother.

"I am happy for her!"

"So why didn't you call her and ask about it?"

"Well why would I be the one to call her, it's her good news she didn't call me and say anything"

"Because she could sense that you weren't happy for her yesterday" Lizzie knew Char was right

"Okay fine I'll call her"

"Good and while you're at it, you should probably apologize for being such a bitch yesterday" Lizzie couldn't believe her ears "Charlotte Lucas! I was not being a bitch to my friend!"

"Elizabeth Bennet you absolutely were!"

"Well if I was I wasn't trying to be, she dropped a bomb on me I mean Liv has hardly dated any one since she moved here and the first person she's interested in is Darcy!?"

"That's all the more reason you should be even more supportive" Lizzie paused Char was right, Olivia had always been too shy to really talk to guys so she should be happier that she found a guy she's comfortable with.

"You're right I'll call her now" Lizzie said told her friend

"Great I'll see you tomorrow" Char said before hanging up the phone

Lizzie decided that she should speak with her friend in person and not over the phone, so she sent Liv a text and told her to come over. Twenty minutes later Olivia was on her step, there was a weird tension and Lizzie couldn't wait to clear the air and once they reached her bedroom Lizzie immediately spoke  
"So I know yesterday was weird for us and I just wanted to apologize, you're my best friend Liv and I want you to be happy I was just surprised" Lizzie said in one breath

"I'm really glad to hear you say that, because I wouldn't want our friendship to end because I was dating a guy you didn't like"

"Of course not Liv that would never happen it's just you never told me about your internship at Pemberly or that you had been spending time with Darcy and honestly that kind of hurt my feeling that you didn't trust me enough to tell me" as the words came from Lizzies mouth she realized how true they actually were; she had been hurt that her best friend wouldn't want to tell her about a boy she liked even if it was Darcy. I mean, that's what girlfriends do they talk about boys so why should it have been any different just because it was Darcy?

"Well I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Me getting to know Will, I just didn't know how you'd react because I've never heard you say one good thing about the guy" Olivia had also never considered how Lizzie might feel, it was never her intension to hurt her feelings.

"Okay so now that apologizes are out of the way can we hug?" Lizzie asked with her arms extended Olivia stood up from the plush chair in Lizzie's room and embraced her friend. They hugged for a few moments before they let go  
"Ok so can I tell you about Will he is sooo awkward it's completely adorable!" Olivia squealed

"Yeah he gets especially awkward when he's nervous" Lizzie said rolling her eyes at the thought of one memory in particular. The girls were talking for so long Olivia ended up staying for dinner and once she left Lizzie found herself with her younger sister Lydia laying on Jane's bed

"Well I'm glad you and Liv made up tonight" Jane commented

"Wait you two got into a fight? No one ever tells me anything around here!" Lydia said dramatically

"We didn't get into to a fight it was just a misunderstanding… Olivia apparently spent the summer getting to know Darcy and now they're going out on a date tomorrow night" Lizzie told her little sister trying her hardest not to roll her eyes at the thought

"Oh my God Will and Liv!? How completely adorable, we haven't seen Will date anyone except that awful Caroline" Lydia said

"Oh she isn't so bad Lydia" Jane said

"Oh you're only saying that because she's your boyfriend's sister but we all know she only wanted to date Will because he'll inherit Pemberly one day" Lydia said flipping her shinny chocolate hair over her shoulder. Lizzie laughed, her little sister was an absolute gossip queen where did she even get that information from?  
"So Lizzie were you jealous that Olivia was stealing your man?" Lydia asked her sister

"What the hell! Lydia you know Darcy and I have been enemies practically since the day we met, why would you ever think I'd be jealous of Olivia for dating him!?" it had always annoyed Lizzie that her little sister had this fantasy that she and Will have always been in love with each other, and they were only pretending to be enemies to hide their true feelings, I mean how cliché!

"Well then what else could the misunderstanding have been about?" Lydia asked looking genuinely confused

"I think Lizzie was just a little blindsided Liv had never even told her that she and Will were developing a relationship" Jane chimed in

"Exactly! See Jane understands where I'm coming from" Lizzie said, glad that at least one of her sisters was on her side.

"Well family dinner is next weekend so we'll see how Lizzie and Will behave" Lydia said wiggling her eyebrows  
"What are you talking about it'll be the same as always we'll be forced to sit next to each other, we'll sit in awkward silence while he continuously taps his fingers, and then he'll excuse himself and hide in the kitchen with Mrs. Reynolds eating cookies until Mrs. Darcy forces him to come and join whatever ridiculous game they come up with its been the same way for the past five years why would next weekend be any different?" Lizzie questioned her sister

"Because this is the first year since he stopped speaking to you that he hasn't purposely switched his classes to get away from you and from what I hear you two seemed pretty friendly in poetry this week" how in the hell would Lydia know that she and Darcy had completed a full week of classes together without killing each other.

"You're a freshmen how do you even know what classes I have!?"

"Oh I have my sources Lizzie, you and Will have been getting along!" Lydia said clapping her hands,

"Lydia you are such a gossip queen, Will and I are not getting along we just aren't little kids anymore" Lizzie told her

"Yeah sure you guys are soooo mature now, you'll realize someday that I've been right this whole time" Lydia said getting off her sisters bed and leaving the room.

Lizzie knew that her little sister was nothing but a hopeless romantic and a total sucker for love, but she had no idea what she was talking about, its good thing no one ever knew about her first kiss otherwise she'd never hear the end of it!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

Saturday morning Will woke up with a serious headache, he had hardly gotten any sleep the previous night, he was so anxious about his date with Olivia. Will has always been shy and never felt comfortable around people he has never met before, which made it difficult to talk to girls but it was different with Olivia he felt like he could talk to her about anything. The summer they spent together at Pemberly had been great, although he had been apprehensive because she was Lizzie's best friend he was glad that he had taken the time to get to know her better, because he'd finally met a girl he really felt like he could be himself around. Will sat up in his master canopy bed with a lot on his mind, not only was he nervous about his date but also had not been able to get Elizabeth out of his mind all week. Maybe not switching his classes hadn't been such a good idea after all, Will felt like he was thirteen all over again, trying to resist the constant temptation to stare at her whenever he could. When Will had come up with his full proof plan to avoid Lizzie he realized that the closeness of their families was something he couldn't escape, you see Mr. Bennet and Mr. Darcy had been college roommates that lost touch after Mr. Bennet had gone to medical school in Boston and Mr. Darcy had taken over Pemberly printing and turned into the Pemberly digital we all know today. After medical school Mr. Bennet had come back to San Francisco and opened a small OBGYN practice and became one of the top Doctors in the field, so much so that a pregnant Mrs. Darcy wanted him to be the man to birth her child, it was this coincidence that brought the two friends back together, and Mr. Bennet had birthed both the Darcy children. After some years of just the adult couples hanging out the children were introduced, thus bonding the two families together forever. It was this closeness that made it difficult but not impossible to completely avoid Elizabeth. Will knew that during these family gatherings he would be forced to see her, so would constantly find more reasons to spend time with his nanny Reynolds and it worked for a while until his mother had caught on to what he was doing and forced him to join the family. Because Will knew he could almost never resist the urge to stare at Lizzie he would simply think about all the reasons he shouldn't want to, the constant name calling, the glaring, the never ending taunting he endure at every family gathering, the list could go on and on. Over the years it had become much easier and then one day his urge to stare was completely gone, and Will had been glad to be rid of his crush and urge to stare at Lizzie it made it that much easier to pretend she didn't exist in his life, but this week the urges had come back with vengeance. He moved his seat in poetry class to try and put some distance between them but that didn't help because for the entire 60 minute class he would be staring at the side of her face. It was driving him insane! And the worst part of all is being around Olivia, how could he focus on talking to her when all he wanted to do is stare at Lizzie. Will really did like Olivia and was determined to put Lizzie out of his mind, but he couldn't help noticing that there was some tension between the girls and wondered if it was because Lizzie had found out about Liv asking him out, and if that were true why would she be upset and would she try to interfere as he had feared!? Will needed his younger sister to sort through his confused mind Will pressed the button to the intercom that was connected to Gigi's room

"Georgiana are you awake yet" he heard rustling as he waited for his sister's response

"Well I guess I am now" she answered with the sound of sleepiness still coating her voice 

"Would you mind coming to my room I need to speak with you please" Will knew that he needed to speak with the one person that understood him most. A few moments later Gigi came and hoped into her big brothers and snuggled herself under his fluffy comfiture like she's been doing since she was little. Will laughed at her child like antiques

"I'm not awake yet" Gigi announced, Will laughed

"Yes you are and I really must speak with you…. I'm kind of nervous about this whole date thing" Will said nervously. Gigi removed the covers from her head to reveal her smiling face.

"Aww Will! That is so cute"

"Gigi I'm being serious, I kind of notice that Olivia and Elizabeth haven't seemed as close since Liv and I made plans for today and I'm concerned that Elizabeth will convince her not to go out with me" Will finished and watched his sisters face closely as she thought hard about what he just told her.

"I mean has Olivia been acting weird around you?"

"Well… no"

"Then you have nothing to worry about, I doubt Lizzie would say anything to try to change her mind" Gigi understood what was really going on here, Will's been thinking about Lizzie the way he used to when he was younger. Whenever Lizzie would upset him, Will would go into the west wing of the house and play the piano for hours, the west wing of the Darcy estate had originally been designed for Mr. Darcy's home office but was never finished, and instead it was the area William had learned to play piano. Gigi noticed that during this entire week her brother had spent all of his time in that wing of the house and his mind seemed troubled and the cause was certainly not pre date jitters.

"Will, why does Lizzie make you so uncomfortable?"

"It's not that she makes me uncomfortable, Elizabeth has always been unpredictable I never know what she's going to do or say, and I just wouldn't want Olivia to get the wrong impression because of the horrible things I _know_ Elizabeth has said about me"

"You don't actually know that William" Gigi said rolling her eyes "look Olivia hasn't called to cancel the date so you have nothing to worry about"

"I guess you're right, I just want this whole thing to work out I actually like Olivia a lot, she's the only girl I've ever felt like I could be myself around, and I just don't want Elizabeth's hatred of me to influence her" Gigi watched her brother as he spoke _God, Will you are so terrified of your feelings for Lizzie why can't you just accept it and tell the girl!_ She thought. Gigi was sure that her brothers feelings for Olivia were genuine she was a really sweet girl, but she also knew that no matter how hard he tried he would always have a thing for Lizzie Bennet.

"Will everything is going to be okay, you're going to have an amazing time on your date"

"Thanks Gigi" Will said smiling

Will was pulling into Olivia's driveway with his stomach in knots, he was so nervous. He got out of the car and walked up to the front door and knocked.

"Coming!" he heard Liv shout, when she finally came to the door Will couldn't believe his eyes she looked amazing. Olivia's raven black hair was curled and cascading past her shoulders, and she was wearing a short yellow skater dress.

"You look beautiful Liv" Will greeted her, she blushed and smiled at him

"Well hello to you too Mr. Darcy" she greeted smiling "so, uhh am I dressed right for the day?" Liv asked spinning around in her dress.

"Yes you are right down to your white converse" Will laughed as he watched her spin

"Great! So let's get a move on!" Liv said pulling Will down the steps and towards his BMW.

On the ride to the pier Will and Liv talked about everything, Olivia noticed that Will seemed very nervous at first, so she tried her best to make him laugh to really break the ice between them. She had been waiting the entire week for this date and now it was finally here! And she planned to enjoy every second of it, Will was one of the sweetest guys she had ever met and she was glad to be going on her first real date with him. Once they'd arrived at the pier and got out of the car Will seemed to have gained a new found nervousness because he became really stiff, and was walking a few steps ahead of Olivia, Liv rolled her eyes and skipped to catch up with him and when she did she grabbed his hand and linked her fingers through his, surprised by the quick action Will looked down at her with wide eyes.

"Don't be a Darcy-bot today we're going to have an amazing time" she said smiling and giving his strong hand a light squeeze. William smiled at that moment he wanted to kiss her, she always knew just how to make him feel comfortable.

"I know… I'm just a bit nervous" Will said shyly looking away from her, Olivia stopped at the front entrance of the carnival styled pier and Will turned to face her.

"Well… I'm kind of nervous too, but I'm here with you so I know that we're going to have fun" Will just smiled and squeezed her hand the same way she had done his, and continued to walk to with her hand in hand. For the rest their date Will and Olivia had spent the day playing every game and riding every ride Will left like he was kid again he had spent the entire day with someone he felt he could almost call his best friend. Once they left the pier Will wasn't quite ready for the date to be over.

"So I know you've been with me all day and I'm sure you'd like to go home but I was just hoping maybe you want to have dinner before you do" Will said breathlessly, Liv giggled at his silly nerves  
"You didn't think you were going to take me home without feeding me did you? Because cotton candy is great and all but a girl like me needs real food" Will laughed

"Okay where do want to go?"

"Umm I'm not sure surprise me" Liv said wiggling her eyebrows, they ended up at a quiet Italian restaurant, once they ordered, Liv asked the one question Will hoped would never come up

"So what's the real deal with you and Lizzie?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7

Lizzie had been dreading Monday all weekend she really didn't want to hear about Liv's date and judging by the fact that she hadn't heard from her all weekend it had gone pretty well. Lizzie entered into poetry class hoping that Will had gotten food poisoning and would be absent today, no such luck though because the second she entered the room his big blue eyes were staring at her as usual. Lizzie noted that William had moved his seat a few weeks ago and had spent some time trying to figure out why, she'd thought they had made some progress in being more mature with each other but she guessed some things would just never change. Lizzie took her normal seat and the class chatted while they waiting for there teacher to come, Lizzie had been playing a game on her phone when she felt a strong hand touch her shoulder, she turned to find Will standing behind her.

"Elizabeth could I maybe have a word with you?" Lizzie could tell he was very nervous

"Uhh yeah what's up?" Will took the empty seat next to her

"I'm sure that Olivia will tell you about our weekend together if she hasn't already…."  
"I actually haven't spoken to her, I was assuming you two had a hell of a weekend" Lizzie said trying not to roll her eyes

"Right… well she asked me why you hate me so much and I…"

"I never said that I hated you Will" Lizzie said quietly, and for the first time since they'd began their conversation they made eye contact

"Elizabeth I am not attempting to be an ass by pointing this out, but you have told me that you've hated me twice a year since we were eight, and in 7th grade you said it three times in one argument" he explained with his face very serious, Lizzie chuckled a bit only William F. Darcy would remember exactly how many times it has been.

"Will, what I mean is I've never told Liv that I hate you, and anyway what is the point you're trying to get at here?"

"What I'm trying to ask is… have you ever mentioned, I mean did you tell her about…." Will was blushing she knew what he was trying to ask

"I've never told anyone about that Will"

"I'm only asking because I simply told her that you've never liked me and that we've just never been good company to one another, but it seemed like she didn't believe me and I just thought perhaps that was the reason"  
"I'm sure she believes you she has to that's the truth, well partially" Will looked at her ready to ask what she meant but at that moment the teacher had come into the class and began the lesson.

Lizzie didn't hear a thing Mrs. Hanson had been saying. How could he actually think she hated him!? It had always been him that hated her! She heard him say so with her own two ears! The way he always called her Elizabeth just to piss her off, his uncomfortable blank stares, the way he would always have to challenge every little detail of anything she ever said, it was him not her! He was such robot! William never understood human emotions, Lizzie had tried to be his friend but he never wanted to talk anyone besides Richard and Charlie, and now he wants to date her best friend!? The whole thing was completely ridiculous.

Lizzie ended up not going to 3rd period English but instead she went to the councilor's office.

Lizzie knocked on the half open door "Ms. Libby could I talk to you for a sec"

Ms. Libby spun around in her office chair to with a warm smile greeting Lizzie

"Well hello Ms. Bennet wonderful to see what can I help you with?" Lizzie took a seat in the plush chair in front of her desk

"I know we're two weeks into the semester but I was hoping to maybe switch my English class for after lunch instead of before"

"Oh…. Well any particular reason why?"

"Mr. Hart is a good teacher but just a bit too intense for me, I think Mr. Bower would be a better fit for me"

"Well alright Lizzie I'll see what I can do and let you know by the end of today" the councilor told her. In Lizzie's mind she knew she was being a bit immature but she really didn't feel like spending 60 minutes of every day watching Liv and Will making googly eyes at each other.

When lunch came the girls were sitting at their usual table when Lizzie came to sit down

"Hey where were you for 3rd?" Liv asked when she sat down

"Oh I was called into Ms. Libby's office apparently Mr. Harts class is at capacity and some of the students Have to get moved to 5th period" Lizzie couldn't believe how quickly that lie flew out of her mouth, It did help that Mr. Hart had mentioned that were too many kids in his class

"Oh wow seriously? That sucks if they move you we won't be in the same class anymore"

"I know! It sucks but it may or may not happen so we'll see" Lizzie said making her story sound more convincing

"So tell me all about your date! I didn't hear from you all weekend so that must be good right!" Lizzie fake squealed holding her best friends hands. Lizzie decided to at least pretend to take an interest in Olivia and Will going out, that's what good friends do.

"Lizzie everything was perfect, he was so sweet, and even though he can be little awkward at times he was actually kind of funny" Liv told the girls

"It must have been an amazing date you practically have hearts in your eyes" Charlotte said giggling

"Oh, oh maybe now you and Will can double date with me and Charlie!" Jane said clapping her hands

"Geez Janie it was one date I wouldn't exactly start planning a wedding just yet" Liv said blushing

"It did go well I'm sure he's going to ask you out again" Lizzie told Liv, She was amazing herself at how well she was faking her excitement.

"He already did, I'm so excited!" Liv said covering her mouth containing her squeals.

"Well this weekend is our monthly Sunday dinner" Lizzie said rolling her eyes

"Lizzie maybe you and Will could try to get along for once" Liv said

"We do get along"

"You two not speaking to each other does not count as 'getting along'" Liv told her putting up air quotes

"Listen Liv if you want to date Darcy-bot by all means go right ahead but that doesn't mean it's ever going to change the bad blood between the two of us that's been there long before we knew you" Lizzie explained, she needed Olivia to understand that no matter what she and Will would never get along they have never liked each other and nothing was going to change that.

"I mean we have been sitting at the same dinner table for six years and he pretends that I don't exist and I do the same, that's the only he and I will ever get along and I'm fine with that"

"Okay I hear what you're saying I won't bring it up again but just promise me on thing

"What's that?"

"If things do in fact go further between Will and I could you at least get along with him when he's around, you know with all of our friends" Liv asked sincerely

"I won't make any promises but I'll try"

When William pulled into the drive way of his home he noticed that his cousin Richards Mercedes Benz was parked outside, Will thought he could avoid his cousin by coming in through the kitchen but there was Richard and Gigi sitting at the Island.

"Well if it isn't lover boy! Spent the afternoon with your girlfriend!?" Richard greeted him loudly

Will hadn't told his friends about his date with Olivia because he didn't want to make a big deal about it, but leave it to Gigi to spill the beans. William immediately cut his eyes towards his younger sister who was giving him an innocent smile

"I'm sorry I thought he knew already" she said shrugging her shoulders and getting off the stool she was sitting on to leave the kitchen.

"Will I'm actually kind of hurt that you didn't tell me man" Will's back was turned toward the refrigerator, and he thought that his cousin was joking but when he turned around he saw real sincerity in his eyes.

"Rich I didn't tell anyone except Gigi, you know I don't really tell anyone anything" he explained

"Will we're family, but I also like to think that we're friends, but ever since you took your vow of silence from Lizzie you act like you never want to be around anyone, I mean dude that was six years ago don't you think it's time to give it up already?" Richard said gesturing dramatically with his arms "whenever we invite you to hang out with everyone you never want to go, and I never say anything because I know that you're just naturally anti-social, but now you're not telling me stuff what the hell is that about?!" Will had never realized that his cousin felt this way, he was never good at reading people.

"Look Rich, you know Lizzie and I don't get along, it's not that I don't want to hang out I just don't want to be around her" Will told him

"Just because you don't get along with one person in a group of friends doesn't mean you stop hanging out with everyone Fitz"

"I thought I told you never call me that" Will said

"That's not the point" Richard said flagging him

"I guess I do understand where you're coming from, and I have gone back on my vow, I just have to get used to being in Elizabeth's company again"

"Well I'm glad to hear that buddy" Richard said smiling and patting his cousin on the back, Will laughed

"Before you even ask Olivia is amazing and we had a great time"

"Any lip action?" Richard asked wiggling his eye brows, Will laughed again

"This is why I don't tell you anything" Will said


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8

It was Sunday morning in the Darcy household William could smell dinner being prepared for the monthly Darcy-Bennet Sunday dinner. For the past three years William had woken up on this day feeling numb, he had trained himself to simply pretend that Lizzie wasn't there even when she was sitting right next to him. But this morning he was feeling anxious and couldn't understand why, he hadn't felt this way about her coming to his home since he was a kid, but today his nerves were completely shot. William had gone out for a long jog in an attempt to clear his mind unfortunately for him it only caused him to think about Lizzie even more. When William was sure the Bennet family had arrived he quietly slipped away to the west wing of his home, he needed to calm his nerves of the anxiety he'd been feeling all day. Will had lost track of how long he had been playing his piano and he hadn't heard anyone come into the room until he heard her voice over his piano

"So this is where you've been hiding all this time?" Lizzie said standing very close to him

Startled by her presence William almost leapt from the piano seat

"How did you find me…" he asked cautiously

"I just followed the sound of the piano…" Lizzie said coming closer to him "you play beautifully" Will was now standing in front of the piano and as Lizzie began to come closer as he moved away. Lizzie gave him a devious smirk as she matched his every movement across the room.

"Why are you so afraid of me" she asked giggling seductively, William had backed away as far as he could but somehow he ended up with back against the piano once again and he was now forced to make eye contact with Lizzie.

"I am not afraid of you Elizabeth, I've just…" suddenly Will couldn't speak Lizzie was standing so close to him he could smell her perfume and he noticed that she was watching his lips as he spoke.

"Elizabeth why are you really here?" he asked in a voice so low he wasn't if she heard him

"Because I want you to stop pretending you don't feel what's going between us" she told him matching his tone

And before William could stop himself he'd grabbed Lizzie by her waist and spun her around so she was now pinned to the piano. The look in her eyes was wild and devious Will could no longer deny the tension between them as he firmly but gently slid his hands behind her head and pulled her toward his lips, she responded to him eagerly as she also grabbed his silky black curls between her fingers and deepened the kiss. There movements were frantic at first as years of lustful tension was released in this moment, Will was squeezing her waist trying to draw her closer if that was possible and Lizzie took that moment to taste his bottom lip more fully. She ran her tongue across it, tasting him, Will could hardly keep his composure when he heard her moan

"Will…" she whispered never breaking contact

"Will" he heard her say again only this time she sounded further away than before

"Will!" and now her voice sounded completely different from before

"Big brother are you awake?" William finally recognized his sister's voice, as his eyes flew open and he sat up in his bed breathing heavily in a cold sweat.

"Hello earth to William!" he heard Gigi over the intercom again, Will held down the button

"What is it Georgianna" he said

"Nanny Reynolds says that breakfast is ready"

"I'll be down in a minute" he told her

William looked down and realized that his steamy dream had caused parts of him to now be hardened and he immediately ran to the bathroom for a shower. As Will let the water rush over his head his mind was going crazy remembering the details of his dream _I can't believe I would dream about Elizabeth in such a way!_ He thought. He had spent an awesome week with Olivia but that hadn't stopped him from staring at Lizzie in poetry and thinking about her all the time but never in all the years of him knowing her had he ever had a dream like that. How could he face her tonight at dinner after a dream like that!? He needed an excuse to get out of the house and he needed one fast!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9

Sunday morning in the Bennet household was normal Mrs. Bennet in the kitchen preparing her famous peach cobbler, Mr. Bennet in his home office checking patient files and making house calls, all three Bennet girls lounging around in their bedrooms. Lizzie was lying in bed dreading the evening's dinner at the Darcy mansion, ever since there little talk on Monday Lizzie couldn't stand to be in the same room as Will! It like felt junior high all over again, William's piercing blue eyes burning a hole in the back of Lizzie's head and every class discussion he just had to find a way to dispute whatever it was she had been saying. Lizzie couldn't decide which was worse, having Will completely ignore her or being under his constant judgmental eyes, and Olivia wasn't helping she had spent every day after school with him and would talk about him every chance she got! Lizzie wasn't sure if she was going to able to handle all of that it was way more Darcy than she was used to. As Lizzie was lying in bed with her thoughts Jane came in and got in the bed with her sister

"What are you in here thinking about?" Jane asked

"Janie, could I ask you something?"

"Sure"

"Are you in love with Charlie?" Lizzie asked and Jane began to blush the question had completely taken her surprise.

"Well I am mean we have been dating for almost two years…. I guess I do love him" she answered slowly

"Do you think Darcy and Liv will be together for a long time?" Lizzie asked looking up at ceiling "because if she and Will are anything like you and Charlie I may as well end our friendship now" Lizzie said in a huff

"Well I don't think anyone can know how long they'll be together, and why would that idea even bother you I thought you had gotten over the idea of them dating" Jane was never one to speak on too much of anything but she could tell that this thing with Liv and Will was really bothering her sister and if Lizzie was honest with herself she'd understand why.

"I am over the idea of them dating, I just had no idea how annoying it'd be!" Lizzie said

"Well only time will tell what the future holds" Jane said shrugging her shoulders.

As the Bennet family pulled up to the Darcy mansion Lizzie was dreading the evening's events. Every time she thought about what Will had said last Monday she became so angry she wanted to punch him! He's the one that started the feud not her! As these thoughts were running through Lizzie's mind she was becoming annoyed as the family approached the door where they were greeted by Mrs. Reynolds, When they entered the house Gigi came flying down the stairs

"Lizzie!" she squealed opening her arms to embrace her "it feels like it been forever" she told her

"I know actually missed my other baby sister" Lizzie told her hugging her back, even though Will and Lizzie had never gotten along, Lizzie had always felt very close to Georgiana. Mr. and Mrs. Darcy entered the room next greeting the Bennet's, as adults went to the living room the teens went to the den until it was time for dinner as they all chattered away Lizzie noticed that Will was nowhere in sight,_ pshh he must be PMSing tonight_ lizzie thought with a smug grin on her face. When Mrs. Reynolds called everyone into the dining room there was still no sign of William, or Mrs. Darcy for that matter it wasn't until the main course was being served that the both of them emerged in the doorway "William so nice you could finally join us" Mr. Bennet said, Will flashed him the biggest smile he could muster which caused a slight flutter in the pit of Lizzie's stomach and she averted her eyes immediately _ugh just the sight of him makes queasy!_ "Nice to see you too Mr. Bennet" Will said taking his seat across from where Lizzie was sitting

"So you and Lizzie have poetry class together that hasn't happened in a long time, how do you like it?" Mr. Bennet asked

"Class together!? Lizzie you didn't tell me that" Mrs. Bennet said in her normal dramatic fashion

"That's because there's nothing to tell mother!" Lizzie said through gritted teeth

"I am beginning to develop a found appreciation for the art, Mr. Bennet" Will said, Lizzie took her eyes off her mother to glare at William _how the hell can you appreciate anything all you do is debate everything I say and stare at me for 90 minutes a day!?_ Lizzie's mind screamed, Will never looked in Lizzie's direction.

"You know they say that poetry is the food of love" Lydia chimed in

"Pshh, yeah right" Lizzie said rolling her eyes

"Actually I believe Mrs. Hanson mentioned that in our last class" Lizzie shot Will another look and this time his piercing blue eye were staring right at her

"Yes she did and even then I thought it was nonsense" Lizzie shot back

"How so when some of the greatest love stories are written through poetry?"

"Because you can't just write a few pretty words and expect someone to fall for you"

"That's because no one's ever written you a love poem Lizzie" Lydia giggle, before Lizzie had a chance to respond Mrs. Darcy spoke "Alright guys that's enough debate at the dinner table". The rest of meal was eaten pretty much in silence except for Will's incessant foot taping which no one else seemed to hear but her. When Lizzie looked at him for quick moment he was scratching the palm of his hand for the millionth time that evening and he looked uncomfortable, as Lizzie's eyes traveled from his hand to his face she was met with his blue eyes once more, his cheeks immediately became rosy and he looked away from her. Once the table was cleared the adults and teens went their separate ways again and Will vanished yet again. Back in the den Jane and Lydia were watching television and Lizzie and Gigi were talking

"Lizzie if I asked you something do you promise not get upset." Lizzie looked at Gigi with one eyebrow raised

"Sure…" Lizzie said slowly

"Why can't you and Will ever seem to get along" she asked

"Listen I really don't want to sit here and bash your brother I know how much he means to you" Lizzie knew that Gigi loved her brother and how close they were to each other, despite him being a complete jerk Will was a great big brother to Gigi and even Lizzie knew not to talk bad about someone's sibling to their face.

"Come on Lizzie you can tell me, you two have been going at it for as long as I can remember don't you think it time to end the feud" Lizzie sighed "Gigi every day in poetry class we spend the first twenty minutes reading a poem and discussing its meaning and whenever I make my observation of what the poem means to me here comes your brother to dispute whatever I've just said"

"So what does that mean?" Gigi asked looking confused

"It means that's just how our relationship has always been, we've never seen eye to eye"

"You guys have never even tried to find out if you have anything in common"

"That's because we don't! Even that dumb thing about poetry being the food of love he went on and on in class about how writing can help a person express the feelings they can't speak, blah blah blah" Lizzie said mocking Will's voice

"You know he's never been very good with expressing himself Lizzie" Gigi said

"See this is the reason we can't talk about your brother because all you're going to do is defend him!" Lizzie said

"I'm not defending him it's the truth! Will has always been really bad at saying the right things or the appropriate thing he has terrible social skills" Gigi explained

"Well, Liv doesn't seem to think so she thinks he's the greatest" Lizzie said with sarcasm dripping from her words. Gigi decided that is was too easy to poke fun at how obviously jealous Lizzie was that Liv and Will were spending time together, instead she changed the subject, and for the rest of the evening they talked about plans to spend more time together. As Lizzie was getting in the car for the family to return home she noticed Will's car wasn't outside, she couldn't explain why but it made her very angry, _so we're back to him hiding from me! _ Lizzie thought _what the hell does he think I'm going to do!?Kill him?_ She couldn't believe he'd just run from his own home just to get away from her! As if she wanted to be in his home every month! Lizzie spent half the night in her bed reminding herself of all the reasons she'd ever hated William F. Darcy and the other half being angry with herself for even allowing him to make her this upset, Lizzie had decided that she liked it much better when he just pretended that she didn't exist!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 10

Will was certain he was losing his mind! His erotic dream about Lizzie had sent his mind into a world wind, William had always been the kind of guy that prided himself on always being in control, but tonight at dinner he'd felt everything but! The moment he laid eyes on her at the dinner table his mind drifted back to his dream, Lizzie running her fingers through his hair, moaning as he kissed her neck, it was all too much! But he couldn't stop the thoughts from coming, Will had never had a single inappropriate thought about Lizzie up until the previous night. At dinner Will felt extremely uncomfortable sitting in front of her, she was giving him the look of death and Will was sure she had read his mind; he had stolen exactly three glances at her the entire night and for the first time he was noticing things about Lizzies Body that he had never noticed before, like how beautiful her chocolate brown eyes were, or how smooth her naturally tanned skin was, or the fullness of her rosy lips, Will found himself staring at those lips for a moment wondering what they really tasted like and then he shook his head disgusted with himself. After dinner was over Will couldn't wait to run out of the house, the second he had the opportunity he snuck out of the back door and got into his car. He had no real destination in mind he just drove hoping that the ride would clear his mind, William ended up at the park sitting in front of the lake. How could he possibly be having these thoughts about Lizzie when he was dating Olivia? He did like her, it felt like he had finally found someone he could call a best friend besides Charlie, Will ran his finger through his hair in frustration_, that is not the way you should be thinking about the girl you'__re dating__! _His mind screamed. Will was so confused he really did like Olivia but maybe not the way he thought he did, which lead him to the scariest thought of all: how do you tell such an amazing girl that you only like her as a friend!?

_Three months later…_

Will and Olivia had been dating for three months and she felt like she and Will were closer than ever…. just not romantically, and she was starting to think maybe he wasn't interested anymore. They had been spending a lot of time together getting to know each other, and they were still going out on dates, but Liv felt like they should have been doing more, sometimes it felt like he barely wanted to kiss her and Will was acting more like a friend than a potential boyfriend; winter break was coming and he had asked her to join his family for their trip to the mountains but Liv still wasn't sure if he was asking her as a date or as just a friend. At school everyone was panicking about midterms, which meant study hall was packed with students Liv had spotted char sitting with her headphones in, she ran over to her and sat down and pulled one of the ear buds from her ear

"I need to talk to you" Olivia told her

"Well hello to you too" Char said laughing

"I'm sorry hi" Liv said slowing down for a second and taking a look around and realizing that Lizzie wasn't there "where's Lizzie?" she asked

"Oh, she has her English midterm this period"

"Right she got switched duh" Liv said " well I really need to talk to you" the look on Olivia's face read distress, which caused char to take out her other ear bud and straighten up in her seat.

"What's up?" Char asked, Liv's shoulders slumped

"I don't think Will is interested in me anymore"

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, he treats me more like a best friend than a potential girlfriend, he hasn't even mentioned anything about being exclusive!"

"I mean Liv you were the one that had to make the first move, maybe he just needs a gentle push" Char always had a way of making something that seemed hard sound so easy.

"I mean maybe, but he… he hasn't even tried to make any moves on me he barley wants to kiss me" Liv said hoping Char understood what she meant

"Well do you want him to treat you like a piece of meat or like a lady? Cool your teenage hormones" Char said laughing "Let me ask you something, are still interested in Will romantically? You guys pal around and have secret jokes the way you would with me or Lizzie" Liv was stuck she had been so fixated on how he felt about her she hadn't even taken time to think about what her own feelings were.

"I do like Will… a lot!" Liv told Char but she wasn't sure if she even meant what she'd said, and Char could tell

"I think you should really think about it and have a real conversation with him as well" Char told her "in the meantime we're a week away from winter vacation and I'd like to pass midterms so let's study" char finished holing up her calculus book.

When school was over Olivia decided she wanted to take a walk instead of having Will drive her home, she needed some time to think. Olivia was thinking about the time she had spent with Will over the last few months, she had shared things with Will that she hadn't even told Lizzie and it felt great to have a male perspective in her life, but that isn't exactly the way you should think of the guy you're dating. It's like Carrie said in sex and the city she just didn't feel that "za za zoo" you're supposed to feel when you're dating someone, Will was beginning to feel more like a best friend than a boyfriend; but how could she tell him that without hurting him? Olivia's mind was racing she had never really taken the time to evaluate the situation from both sides and now that she had she had no idea how she was going to explain to Will that she didn't like him the way she thought she did and she really didn't want to lose him as a friend.

For the next few days Olivia had completely avoided Will she really had no clue how to talk to him or what she would even say, but she knew she would eventually have to say something. Friday morning during first period midterm Olivia had knocked her physics test out of the park and was able to leave class early, she decided she would go to the library to study for her next exam. on the way there she noticed she was walking right past Lizzies poetry class so Liv thought maybe she could catch her attention and wave to her before heading to the library. When Olivia looked in the window of class she saw Lizzie intensely writing and as Liv scanned the room she noticed Will was intensely starring at Lizzie; and it wasn't like he was starring off into space oh no, he was watching Lizzie's every movement and the look in his eyes was dreamy like he had never seen something so beautiful and then he shook his and frowned his face in what looked like disgust of himself. Olivia couldn't believe her eyes, she backed away from the window quickly and rested the back of her head on the wall _William Darcy is in love with Lizzie Bennet! _


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 11

During the week of winter midterms Will had noticed that Olivia had been distant, but he figured it was because she had been studying a lot, so on Friday when the terror of midterms was over Will was sure that it was the perfect time to hang out with her. When school was over Will went searching for Olivia. He'd finally found her in the school parking lot with her back turned, William snuck up behind her, picked her up and spun her around.

"Hey beautiful, I missed you all week" he said into her neck, when she turned to face him she smiling the way she always did when she saw him. William had never worked up the courage to tell Olivia that he only liked her as friend because he was so afraid of losing her, he had grown to love Liv and everything about their friendship and he never wanted to ruin that.

"Hey you! Yeah midterms have been a total bust I'm so glade winter vacation has started" she said smiling at him

"Do you want to come over tonight, and watch movies or something?" Will had been looking forward to spending time with Liv all week.

"Yeah sure, that sounds great I just have to go home first to finish packing I didn't get a chance to tell you, but I'm not going to able to go with your family on the mountain trip my family is going back to Los Angles to celebrate the holidays with my nana" Olivia explained, when her father told her this last minute news Liv couldn't have been more relieved, after figuring out that Will totally had feelings for lizzie, she'd felt so many emotions she didn't know what to think. She had spent the entire night thinking about it and the conclusion she'd come to was that she wasn't angry, she just really wanted to be there for him and she couldn't think of a better opportunity to have a talk with him than tonight.

"Aww man that sucks, I was really looking forward to having you there" Will said with his shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Aww, don't worry we still have this last weekend to hang out before you leave on Monday it'll be fun" she said leaning closer and standing on her tip toes to give him a kiss on the cheek

"I've gotta go now, I'll be over around 8" Liv said waving at him as she walked away, when Will looked in the direction she was walking he saw Lizzie standing there waiting for her, he instantly felt queasy when she made eye contact with him and averted his eyes and walked towards his own car.

For the past few months since his dream, Will had dreamt of her constantly, each dream becoming more erotic. Every night he would undress her just little more, kiss her in places he hadn't in the previous dreams, touch her in ways he couldn't imagine in real life. It had become more and more difficult to sit across from her at the dinner table, and basically impossible not to stare at her during poetry class. William had become terrified of his own thoughts and he was absolutely sure he had lost his mind, and what made it worse was the fact that he had no one to talk to about any of this without someone getting the idea that he actually had feelings for Lizzie, because he certainly did not! No Will had convinced himself that he was having conflicted feelings towards Lizzie because he found her sexually attractive, and Will decided there was nothing wrong with that. Lots of people are attracted to someone they don't necessarily like, although he had convinced himself it didn't stop him from feeling overwhelmingly frustrated. He couldn't remember the last time he had taken a normal shower and it was beginning to feel as if he lived in the west wing of his home. When Will finally arrived home his mother was in the kitchen sitting by the island drinking tea, she looked up when the door opened and smiled when she saw Will come through the door.

"Hey sweetie, how was your last day?" Mrs. Darcy asked

"Hey mom, it was actually pretty good I finally caught up to Liv she's coming over tonight"

"Oh, speaking of Olivia did you get a chance to ask her if she'd be joining us for the holiday vacation?"

"I did, she and her family are going to back to Los Angles to celebrate with her grandmother so she won't be going"

"Oh, that's too bad, well maybe now I can invite the Bennett's" Will's eyes grew wide he couldn't believe his ears.

"Mom please don't do that, please I'm begging you!" Will pleaded

"Will don't be so dramatic it'll be fun"

"Mom, it'll be fun for you and dad I'll be miserable"

"I thought you and Lizzie were being more mature about being in each other's company"

"Where'd you get that idea!?" William practically yelled with a confused looked on his face

"You two seem to be getting along a lot better at dinner" Mrs. Darcy was beginning to feel like maybe she'd missed something, because Will seemed to be very alarmed at the possibility of spending an extended amount of time with Lizzie.

"Fitz, honey I really thought you two were getting along you guys are so much nicer to one another at dinner"

"Mom, I avoid all possible eye contact with Elizabeth, and she doesn't give me that look she always gives when she looks in my direction, that's about the only progress we've made in 12 years" Will was becoming extremely frustrated, sometimes he felt like his mother just totally ignored the tension between himself and Lizzie.

"What look does she give you?" Mrs. Darcy had always thought that her son would finally get a clue and realize that Lizzie had feelings for him the same way he had feelings for her, but like her husband her son wasn't very good at reading people.

"I don't know… I guess the look of pure hate, like she'd rather be anywhere but near me" Will's eyes grew sad as he spoke and Mrs. Darcy quickly picked up on it.

"Ok well, if it upsets you that much I won't invite them"

"It's not that it upsets me, for once I'd like to go on one vacation where I don't feel completely self-conscious about being myself because she's there" Will said flopping onto the stool in front of his mother and running his fingers through his dark hair.

"I didn't realize she made you feel that way" Mrs. Darcy looked her son in the eyes and thought _my baby boy, has fallen in love with this girl and he doesn't even know it_

"I know, thanks for understanding mom" he said with a dimpled smirk on his face.

Olivia had shown up to the house around 8, she didn't know exactly what she wanted to say to Will but she knew it had to be done that night. When she knocked on the door her heart was beating so fast she thought it would explode, she heard William's voice saying 'I'll get it' before he opened the door flashing that dimpled smile she loved.

"Well hello miss Olivia I've been expecting you" Will said bowing and waving her into the house, Olivia giggled she was beginning to feel much more calm about this talk.

"You're such a dork Mr. Darcy" she said hitting him the chest.

The evening progressed as it normally would have Gigi joined them in the den watching movies for hours until she'd gotten tired and headed to bed. Liv was resting her head in Will's lap as he stroked her hair and when she felt like they were all alone she took a deep breath and spoke

"Will, we need to talk" she said as she grabbed the remote sat up right on the sofa muted the television.

"Sure… what's on your mind" he said speaking very slowly, he watched as Olivia closed her eyes took a deep breath and said

"I don't think this is working out Will, I just think you and I are better off as friends" Liv blurted out quickly, Will starred at her for a long moment processing what he had just heard, he couldn't believe that she felt the same way he did he couldn't have been more happy.

"I feel the same way Liv" he said finally exposing that dimpled grin, Olivia took a huge sigh of relief and put her hand over her heart "oh thank God! I thought you were going to have a Darcy-bot melt down on me" she said laughing

"No, no of course not honestly I've been feeling that way for a little while, but I didn't know how to tell you because I didn't want to lose you as my friend, I haven't had anyone I could call a real friend besides Charlie and I didn't want to hurt you and ruin things forever" he explained, Olivia was so glad they were on the same page

"Yeah I was afraid of the same thing, but then I saw the way you looked at Lizzie and-"

"Wait what do you mean the way I looked at Elizabeth!?" Will's cheeks began to burn and it was now his turn for his heart rate to speed up, Olivia was confused by his reaction.

"In your poetry class I saw you starring at her, and I realized that you were in love with Lizzie" before she even had the chance to finish her statement Will leapt from his seat and was half way across the room

"I do not have those kind of feelings towards Elizabeth! That's crazy, it makes absolutely no sense!" Will was panicking, he couldn't believe she thought this and what was more alarming was his fear that she had shared this idea with Lizzie! Olivia was beginning to understand the situation a bit more, Will was afraid she was going to tell Lizzie and therefore didn't want to tell her the truth, she got up from her seat and walked in Will's direction and grabbed his hands squeezed them.

"Will, Lizzie is my best friend in whole world, but you and I have also developed our own relationship, I've shared things with you I wouldn't dream of telling Lizzie, I just need you to understand that I would never tell her anything you wouldn't want her to know" Will had been looking down during her speech but when she finished he met her eyes and saw that she had meant every word she'd said.

"I wouldn't say I had those kinds of feelings for her… they're conflicting" William explained speaking slowly, Will had never felt comfortable enough with anyone to say that out loud but for whatever reason he knew he could trust Olivia.

"What the heck does that mean" she giggled

"It means… it means that, well I mean…. It's complicated really" Olivia could see Will's Darcy-bot circuits going haywire, she took his hand again and lead him back to the couch

"Will what I saw when I peeked into your poetry class didn't look conflicted to me" she said gently

"Well it was conflicted! I feel completely disgusted with myself when I look at her" Will said becoming angry with himself as he remembered looking at Lizzie. Olivia definitely understood what was going on now, he was still in denial about the whole thing.

"Will, I know this is hard but I need you to be honest with yourself" Liv told him, Will's shoulders slumped, he knew he could trust Liv but he still wasn't sure if he could really say all the things he'd been thinking about Lizzie all these years.

"I really do feel conflicted Liv…" he said quietly

"Okay…. So what's the real deal with you and Lizzie why do you guys really not like each other?" Olivia asked, William took a deep breath _here goes nothing_ he thought

"I can't believe I'm telling you this" Will said shaking his head

"Yeah I know, but it feels good to finally get it all out right?" Olivia said "so come on finish, what was the reason you decided to take this vow of silence and never speak to her again?" Lizzie had always acted so weird if anyone would ask her about it and Liv had always been curious to know why. Will hung his head and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, it was the secret only he and Lizzie knew, but William knew he could trust Olivia.

"Lizzie and I shared our first kiss together…. And when it was over she wanted me to promise that I'd never tell anyone, I was hurt and angry and after that I promised myself no matter what I would never speak to her again" Will watched Olivia's face, she looked shocked

"Whoa… I don't think I was expecting that" Olivia said, which made Will laugh

"Come on its getting late we can talk more in the car" Will said still laughing


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 12

Lizzie couldn't believe she was going to have to spend her winter vacation with William F. Darcy! It was completely insane, I mean one minute Mrs. Bennett was planning Christmas dinner and the next thing you know Mr. Bennett is announcing Mr. Darcy has invited them to the snowy mountains of the Poconos and he agreed; and of course everyone else in the Bennett home was excited as they met the Darcy's on the runway to the family's private plane.

"You know fire places and cold weather is the perfect time for two people to get cozy" Lydia said nudging Lizzie in her arm

"Shut up, Lydia!" Lizzie hissed, as both family's boarded the plan Will and Lizzie made very quick eye contact and Will quickly averted his eyes and his cheeks became rosy. Lizzie noticed that he'd been doing that a lot lately, she was used to him staring, I mean it was ridiculously annoying, but she was used to it, and even that had stopped for a while but now when she catches him looking he seemed weirder than usual somehow. Lizzie had tried not to think about it too much she figured it was just Darcy having one of his many Darcy-bot moments. As everyone took their seats on the plan, Lizzie decided to take the one private seat farthest away from everyone, she didn't feel like Lydia's constant teasing or Will's blue eyes watching her every move, she just wanted to sit in peace and read her favorite book.

As Lizzie took her seat in the far corner of the plane Will couldn't have been happier, this meant he wouldn't be able to see her during the flight because his seat was facing the opposite direction. Will was still pretty upset that his father had invited the Bennett's before his mother had the opportunity to tell him not to, and as usual Richard was tagging along because he would be the only guy otherwise, it didn't make much of difference though because Richard always ended up spending more time with the girls because according to him Will "sucked". Will was sure this would be just like summer vacation, only this time Will would be able to have even less interaction with everyone because unlike their beach home, the winter cabin had all of Will's favorite hide out spots, ever since his conversation with Olivia, Will had been terrified that she would tell Lizzie; he knew that he could trust Olivia but that didn't mean the whole thing didn't still make him nervous as hell, because how exactly was she going to explain their break up!?

Once the plane landed Lizzie hadn't even realized that she'd been asleep the entire time until Jane taped her

"Lizzie, wake up we're here"

"Mmmm ok, how long was I out?" Lizzie asked stretching her arms

"Pretty much the whole flight, you were snoring a little" Jane told her giggling.

"Shut up! I was not! Ugh, how embarrassing" Lizzie said getting up from her seat. In the van on the ride to the cabin everyone was chattering away, well everyone except Will, his face was as expressionless as always, it was a quality in Will that Lizzie had always hated! She could never tell what he was thinking or what he might be feeling, he was always so guarded and Lizzie would never admit it to a single soul, but sometimes she thought his mysterious ways were kind of sexy; even though his constant stares were annoying Lizzie would sometimes find herself trying to figure out what his thoughts might be behind those deep blue eyes. Will had never been the most outgoing guy in the group he'd always been quiet and very observant, Lizzie didn't think he even knew how to be interesting, but whenever she saw him interacting with Liv she was always laughing and he was always smiling at her, it was very rare that she saw Will smile, well at least not when it came to her. Lizzie didn't know how she felt about Olivia and Will anymore, it seemed like ever since they started spending more time together Will had become even more awkward in her presence and she couldn't help wondering if Liv had been telling him all the things she's ever said about him, but Lizzie knew better than that Olivia was a loyal friend and would never do anything like that, especially since Liv had told her that she didn't think Will was all that into her; Lizzie had mixed feelings about hearing that from her friend, on one hand she thought, what the hell is wrong with Darcy!? Liv is amazing he'd be crazy not to be into her! And on the other hand she felt a tinge of excitement at this possibility, because it meant she could have her friend back full time and she'd never have to hear about her and Will ever again!

When the car finally reached the house Lizzie had never seen anything like it! It looked like something from a Christmas card, the house was huge with glass windows everywhere. Lizzie often times forgot just how wealthy the Darcy family was because how humble they were, well except Will of course, but it was times like these she was reminded. As everyone poured out of the van Will seemed the most anxious to get in the house because before his mother even had the chance to ask Will began helping Richard unload the luggage. He was moving so fast she thought her head would spin.

"Well it doesn't look like the boys need any help" Mrs. Bennett said laughing "Ann, Carol, let's head inside and out of this cold maybe we can have some spiked hot chocolate" speaking to Mrs. Darcy and Mrs. Reynolds clapping her hands.

As everyone headed inside Lizzie stayed to get her own suitcase out of the car, she figured she didn't need any one especially William to help her do it. As Lizzie reached for her huge suitcase she realized it was suck to something, she tugged on it but it wouldn't budge she stood there for a moment trying to think of a way to get it out "this could take a while" she said to herself.

Will and Richard were sitting the luggage down in the middle of the foyer when Will remembered there were a few more bags left in the car. Will was trying to hurry so that he could slip away from everyone without his mother noticing. As Will walked towards the van he noticed Lizzie pulling and tugging on her huge suitcase, Will was immediately flustered at the sight of her and wondered if maybe he should just turn back before she noticed him, but he knew the gentleman like thing to do was offer to help. he walked towards her when he was finally close enough he almost wanted to laugh at the sight of her, Lizzie had one snow covered boot proper up on the side of the van and the other planted firmly on the ground and her winter hat had fallen over her eyes, as she grunted and pulled to get her bag out of the van. After a moment of silent laughter Will finally spoke

"Uhh, do you maybe need some help with that" Will asked timidly, Lizzie stopped pulling and tugging on the suitcase and lifted her hat from eyes to see who had come to her rescue.

" uhhh, yeah sure thanks…" she answered slowly stepping out the way as Will came closer to the van, he reached for her bag and pulled it out with ease; Lizzie's mouth practically hit the floor

"How did you do that!?" she asked still in shock. Will was so glad it was so cold out otherwise she would have been able to tell how much he was blushing.

"The zipper was stuck to the seat" he answered sitting the suitcase in the snow and walking towards the walk way of the cabin. When they entered the house everyone was still standing in the foyer talking, and when they heard the front door open and close they all turned around at once and looked at the two of them.

"Where'd you two love birds sneak off to?" Mr. Darcy asked chuckling, Will had never been so mortified in his life, he so speechless he just dropped Lizzie's suitcase where they stood and walked out of the room.

"Oh, great now we won't see him again until it's time to leave" Mrs. Darcy said throwing up her hands frustration and walking into the kitchen

"What?! What did I say wrong?" Mr. Darcy asked following behind his wife.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13

It had been hours since everyone had gotten settled into their rooms and Lizzie could hear the chatter down stairs from her room, she was lying in her bed she wasn't really in the mood to be social. As Lizzie laid on the bed thinking about how incredibly sucky her winter vacation was about to be she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in" Lizzie said, and Gigi walked through the door

"Hey, Nanny Reynolds made cookies and hot cocoa you should come down" Gigi said entering the room and closing the door behind herself

"No thanks, I don't have much of an appetite" Lizzie said rolling over on the bed

"Lizzie my dad was only kidding" Gigi explained sitting on the edge of the bed

"That doesn't make it any less embarrassing Gigi" Lizzie started "you know for years, our parents have been blatantly ignoring the obvious tension between the two of us! No one has ever considered how incredibly uncomfortable it is to be forced to spend time with someone that looks at you as like he'd rather be anywhere in the world but in the same room as me!" Gigi sat there listening to Lizzie she knew she just needed to vent she was going to let her do just that.

"I didn't even want to come on this trip! I wanted to be home, but instead I'm here with a guy that hides whenever he knows I'm going to be around!" Lizzie covered her face with her pillow she was frustrated and part of her wanted to cry. It just wasn't fair, every holiday, every vacation, and get together had to be with Will! If their parents loved hanging out so much why couldn't they just do it by themselves, they don't have to get the entire family together just to spend time with each other.

"Well for the record I'm really glad you're here" Gigi said, Lizzie laughed she was trying to lighten the mood and she appreciated Gigi for that.

"I know Will is your favorite person in the world…. But Thanks for letting me vent Gi" Lizzie said sitting up on the bed

"No problem, besides you probably won't see him again for a few days" Gigi said; Lizzie didn't think what Mrs. Darcy had said was serious, she just assumed she was being dramatic.

"what do you mean I won't see him for a few day, where the hell did he go?" lizzie felt anxious at that moment, she could feel herself getting angry again, I mean what Mr. Darcy said was pretty embarrassing but she certainly wasn't going to lock herself in her room for the duration of the trip!

"My parents never know where Will goes when he disappears, but my guess is he's down in the caves" Gigi explained casually, Lizzie looked at her with a confused looked on her face

"Leave it to Will to be so dramatic, that he would actually hide in a cave to get away from me!" Lizzie almost yelled

"no, no not a real cave, my dad built a man cave below this house, but he rarely uses it but I think Will does, I have no idea where the entrance is but I just assume whenever he disappears that's where he is" Gigi watched Lizzies expression go from angry to almost sad. They sat there in silence for a while and Gigi could tell Lizzie was thinking hard about something, Lizzies attitude towards Will was very confusing sometimes; sometimes Gigi was so sure that Lizzie had feelings for Will and other times she wasn't so sure, Lizzie had always done her best to keep her poker face where Will was concerned, she never let on just how upset his behavior toward her bothered her and she rarely spoke of him if no brings him up in conversation, but every month at dinner Gigi notices them stealing glances and while her brothers stone face is always the same, Lizzies is different every single time, like maybe she hates him a little less and other days she hates him a little more. As Gigi continued to watch Lizzie she finally looked up

"Gigi could I ask you something?"

"Of course"

"Am I really that bad that your brother thinks he has to hide from me? I mean I know we don't get along but it's not like I'm going to stab him the chest if asks me to pass the damn salt!" and there it was again, Lizzie had just gone from being sad over the idea of Will hiding from her to downright furious.

"No lizzie you're not that bad, Will is just embarrassed" Gigi tried to explain

"I was embarrassed too, but I'm not going to hide in a cave because I turned a little red for second" Lizzie wasn't convinced, she was furious Will had been doing this their whole lives! Why did he always get to hide! It was his fault they were always arguing and it was his fault that they've never had a decent conversation because he could never form coherent words if it wasn't an argument.

"Lizzie listen, Will would kill me if he knew I told you this but, the reality is Will is awkward , he's not very good with words, and feels like you're unpredictable he never knows what kind of mood your in or how you'll react to him" Gigi explained

" your brother is so full of it it's ridiculous, I don't even care anymore, if that's the way he wants to play it then that's fine by me! Now let's go get some cookies" Lizzie said standing up and walking towards the door, Gigi followed she decided she would leave the conversation alone for now, they had a whole week together and she wasn't going to spend it listening to lizzie pretend to hate Will.

The first three days of the vacation had been a blast! The girls had had so much fun skiing and tubing down the slopes, Lizzie was having a great time and she was actually glad Will decided to hide out it felt like he wasn't even there. On the fourth day of the trip the girls decided they would go horse back riding and the Bennett girls were super excited because none of them had ever been on a horse before.

"this is going to be so much fun, I wish Charlie was here, he loves horses" Jane said with her arm wrapped around lizzies as they got closer to the stables; as they walked something caught lizzies eye. A beautiful chocolate brown horse, galloped around the field with a man on her back in a black riding coat and boots. The horse huge and powerful yet graceful in its steps and its rider, though Lizzie could not see his face seemed equally as powerful and handsome. He was in total control and she could tell there energies matched each others, Lizzie stood mesmerized watching the rider on the horse hoping she would get to meet this Mysterious man and his beautiful horse. As Lizzie continued to watch she hadn't noticed Gigi coming over and standing beside her.

"Isn't she beautiful" Gigi said breaking Lizzies trance

"yes she is, I wonder who the guy is though he's so good with her" Lizzie replied never taking her eyes off the horse and it's rider, then she heard Gigi giggle and lizzie turned to her to find out what was so funny about what she had just said.

"Lizzie, that's Will" she said between giggles. Lizzie turned completely red at that moment _that can't be him! _She thought.

"That can't be him, that guy is confident and so graceful on that horse" Lizzie just knew that that could not be Will.

"That's Will's horse" she explained

" maybe it's another horse" lizzie said still not convinced, Gigi rolled her eyes and took off her gloves and whistled before yelling

"here Annabelle, come here girl" and just like that, not only did the horse turn it's head, so did it's rider and it was in fact William Darcy looking in there direction, the horse began to gallop towards Gigi and Lizzie and though most times whenever Lizzie and Will made any contact he was always on edge, but riding towards them he seemed cool and peaceful. Lizzie realized that Will was attractive but she had never seen him look more handsome than this moment; as Will stopped in front of the fence where the girls stood, Lizzie realized her heart was beating rapidly and when she looked up she saw Will's piercing blue eyes watching her and the strangest thing happened… he smiled at her exposing his dimple and perfect teeth, lizzie found it difficult to breathe and she looked away from him_ what the hell was that about!?_ She thought putting her hand over her chest, Lizzie was trying to collect herself when she heard him speak

"Hello ladies" he said still smiling, Gigi also surprised by her brothers chipper mood asked "what are you so happy about?"

" it's beautiful out today, perfect for riding Belle and I have been out all morning on the trail we're just getting back" Will explained stroking the horses back "have you ever been on a horse before Elizabeth?" Will asked, Lizzie had been totally caught off guard by his question and completely shocked that he was even speaking to her. Lizzie was tongue tied and it took her moment before she answered him

"Uhh, no I've never been horseback riding before"

"Well I know the perfect horse for you" Will said climbing down from his horse "come on" he Said waving them toward the stables.

Gigi began to walk in same direction but she didn't get too far before Lizzie grabbed her arm

"What's going on with Will?" Lizzie had to ask she had never seen him so up beat, at least not towards her.

"He's always like that after a ride with Belle" she said simply

When the girls were finally in the stable they were greeted by a very excited Jane and Lydia who had both picked out the horse they wanted to ride; Jane had chosen a white horse name angel which seemed fitting for her and Lydia chosen a chestnut brown horse named sugar and both were being prepared for the girls to ride.

"I am so excited for this! Gigi, lizzie you have to go pick a horse" Lydia told them

"Oh my horse is Nelly over there" Gigi said pointing to a horse that was also Chocolate brown like Will's

"She's beautiful Gi" Lizzie said

"Ok Lizzie so then you're the only one left to choose" Lydia said, at that moment Will appeared from around a corner

"Elizabeth, come with me" he called to her, Lydia gave Lizzie a devious smirk and Lizzie simply rolled her eyes and walked towards William. He walked and Lizzie followed him, they walked in silence until they reached two stables

"Could I maybe see your horse for a sec, she's amazing" Lizzie was dying to see the graceful horse up close

"of course she's right over here" Will said opening the door to the horses stable, Lizzies heart skipped a beat when she laid eyes on the horse again she was standing and she was even bigger up close and she was mysterious and beautiful, and lizzie thought she fit Will perfectly

"Will she let me pet her?" Lizzie asked a bit afraid to get any closer

"Yes but I'll have to guide you she's not always very good with strangers" Lizzie looked at Will and laughed a little

"You two are a match made in heaven huh?" Will laughed a little too as he realized the comparison

"yeah I guess you could say that" Will said coming to stand behind Lizzie "now I'm going to guide you" he said and it seemed that he was becoming more nervous "uhhh I need hold your waist" he explained blushing, Lizzie was also beginning to turn to red

"Ok…" she said slowly and before she knew it Will placed one arm around Lizzies waist and pulled her closer. Lizzie's heart was beating out of her chest and she prayed that he wouldn't hear it.

"Take off your glove" he said

"What, why?"

"she needs to able to smell you" after Lizzie had taken off the glove Will place his huge hand over hers and he was trembling a bit, Will lifted her hand and told her to stretch out palm in his and walk slowly towards the horse. Lizzie couldn't believe Williams behavior that must have been one hell of a ride, for the first time in there life Will wasn't acting so jittery around her and Lizzie couldn't deny the butterflies she felt where his hand was. When they finally came close to the horse, Will guided lizzie's hand as she stroked the side of the horses head, she jerked her head when she noticed it wasn't William touching her, lizzie tried to jump back but Will was still holding her firmly

"Annabelle, its ok this is lizzie" he spoke softly, guiding lizzie's hand to pet her head again. The horse became more relaxed hearing Williams voice and he slowly began to move away from Lizzie; lizzie was excited that horse was allowing her to pet her she hadn't noticed Will step away from her, he was watching her intently as he always did.

"She really is beautiful Will" Lizzie told him still in amazement

"Thanks" he said in a soft chuckle

"I didn't know you rode"

"Yeah, I started taking lesson because of my aunt Kathy, she bought both mine and Georgiana's horses" he said walking towards Lizzie "Annabelle really seems to like you, maybe you should ride today" he said petting her

"Oh Will I don't know if I could handle her I've never been on a horse before" Lizzie said backing away and shaking her head

"you'll do fine, Annabelle will take it easy, won't you girl" Will said trying to convince her, Lizzie was nervous but the horse was beautiful she knew it would be a great ride.

"Ok if you think it'll be ok"

"Great! Let's get you geared up" Will said walking out of the stable, as Lizzie followed him out of the stable she had a thought

"Hey, you know my middle name is Annabelle" she said thinking of the coincidence, she watched Wills face begin to turn red, he was quiet for a moment before he said "I know"


	15. Chapter 15

**Authors note: **

**Hey guys,**

**I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the positive and constructive feedback! This is my first fanfic and I was really excited to share my vision with you guys; I know the tension between Will and Lizzie is driving you all crazy, but all I can tell you is there will be a sequel to this story, where you'll finally get what you've been hoping for and more. So without making this too long here's chapter 14! **

Chapter 14

Will felt totally embarrassed in front of Lizzie for the second time that week, he'd thought hiding away from everyone had really cleared his mind, and it had for awhile. Will had never felt so confident around Lizzie before, and after his father totally embarrassed him in front of everyone Will had taken all of his luggage down into the cave where he knew no one would find him and he had no plans of seeing anyone for the rest of the week. Will had gone out almost every day to ride along the trail on his horse, he had even gone skiing with Richard, who wouldn't stop pestering him about where he had been in the house. It had been a great week until he basically told lizzie that he'd named his horse after her, _I should have just pretended I didn't know _he thought, even though she hadn't said anything it didn't stop Will from having a silent panic attack and leaving the girls with the riding instructor. Will had to talk to Olivia, ever since he'd told her about his ridiculous feelings for Lizzie Will finally had someone he could share his thoughts with. Once he was back at the house he immediately called Liv and it only took her moment to answer

"Hello" she answered

"I have to talk to you" Will said quickly, Liv heard the panic in his voice and simply laughed

"Slow down what's wrong now?"

"I think I accidentally told her that I named my horse after her" Will said

"You named your horse Lizzie? I didn't even know you had a horse" Liv said in surprise and confusion

"No I named her Annabelle, Elizabeth's middle name"

"Aww that's so sweet" Olivia gushed, Will rolled his eyes

"It's not sweet it's ridiculous and I was ten"

"It's not ridiculous Will, now explain why you're freaking out"

Will went ahead and told Olivia about everything that had happened up until that day, and he spared no details.

"Whoa, way to go Will finally making a move!" Olivia cheered she could hardly believe her ears

"I wasn't making a move! I always feel really excited after riding Belle, I'd just been struck with a bit of temporary insanity, I never meant to introduce her to my horse to find that out" Will sighed

"Well how did she find out anyway? I thought you said you hadn't seen anyone except your nanny in days" Olivia asked.

"Gigi brought them to stable to ride horses and I just happened to have been there, that's all" Will explained

"Will I'm sure Lizzie just thought it was a coincidence you're overreacting" Olivia explained calmly. Olivia loved the fact that Will was sharing his feelings about Lizzie to her, she knew he rarely opened up to anyone and she was glad that she could be there for him, and it didn't hurt that his Darcy-bot melt downs were kind of funny.

"I guess you're right, I mean we used to argue a lot about both our middle names it shouldn't be that much of a surprise that I'd remember hers" Will said convincing himself and finally calming down.

"Wait what is your middle name anyway?" Olivia asked

"I'll never tell you" Will declared

"Oh I'll find out" Olivia said

After his minor melt down he and Olivia stayed on the phone for a while discussing how each of their winter breaks were going, until she was called to dinner and they finally said there goodbyes. After hanging up the phone Will still felt like he needed to clear his mind so he thought maybe he'd leave the cave and relax in the hot tub.

After a great day, the girls ended up back at the house in their pajamas, they'd decided to do an old fashioned slumber party by the fire place. As the girls got settled into their bean bag seats Lydia asked her burning question, Lizzie knew she'd been dying to ask all day

"So what happened with you and Will in the stable you guys were back there a pretty long time" Lydia asked wiggling her eyebrows in her sister's direction.

"Lydia, nothing happened he just introduced me to Annabelle, jeez"

"I was really surprised, he let you take her out, Will never let's anyone ride Belle" Gigi chimed in

"Well you said he acts different whenever he rides" Lizzie said shrugging her shoulders

"Could we talk about something else? Like where the hell is Richard" Lizzie said, because they hadn't seen him since breakfast

"Oh he's probably with Becca" Gigi told her

"Who's Becca?" Jane asked

"Richards's winter break girlfriend" Gigi said laughing a little

"Winter break girlfriend what exactly does that mean" Lizzie asked

"Well Becca used to be a junior riding instructor during the break, and Richard has always had huge crush on her, but he never made a move because she was older, but last winter break he finally told her how he felt" Gigi explained

"So what happened after he told her?" Lydia asked loving every second of the story

"They hooked up, but decided to stay friends because of the distance and the fact that she's in college and Richard is still in high school"

"And all this time I thought Richard was still a virgin" Lizzie said and the girls started laughing. "Yeah he would never admit it but she was his first kiss too" Gigi whispered, the girls gasped

"No way! Richard didn't get his first kiss till he was 17!" Lizzie said in disbelief "how do you know?"

"Overheard him when he told Will what happened" Gigi said laughing at Lizzie's shocked expression

"Well I mean my first kiss was Charlie" Jane said turning red

"Oh my god Jane you told me your first was Ricky Collins in sixth grade!" Lizzie said even more shocked

"Well that didn't count he caught me off guard during recess then he ran away" Jane explained

"Wow, you never even told me" Lizzie said nudging her

"Well who was your first kiss?" Lydia asked

"Yeah you've never told me" Jane said nudging her sister back.

Lizzie's heart was beating out of her chest, over the years no one had ever asked her about her first kiss and she had never come up with a story and now here she was five years later in the hot seat she'd been dreading since the moment after she and Will shared there first kiss together. What was she going to say!?

"Uhh, I've… never been kissed before" Lizzie said

"No way!" Lydia said not at all convinced

"It's true, I'm waiting for someone special to share that with" Lizzie defended

"No it isn't! You have so been kissed before you just don't want to say who it is!" Lydia accused

"Well Lizzie I'm sure it isn't that bad who ever he is" Jane said

"Ugh you guys are impossible" Lizzie said rolling her eyes "you believe me right Gigi?" Lizzie asked looking to Gigi for support

"Of course I do, and I think it's romantic that you're waiting for someone special, I feel the same way" Gigi said comforting her, even though she didn't actually believe Lizzie's story; she actually agreed with Lydia.

"Well I'm not buying it" Lydia said

"Well I don't care, I'm going to make more popcorn" Lizzie said getting up and heading to the kitchen.

Once Lizzie reached the kitchen she leaned her head on the wall closed her eyes and took a deep breath "that was close" she said quietly to herself; the moment she and Will shared together had haunted Lizzie for a long time after because unlike a normal girl who shared her first kiss with someone special she never got any of the answers to her burning questions, like what did he think of it? Was she a good kisser, but she would never know those things because William Darcy was the most difficult person on earth! Lizzie still didn't understand why her asking him not tell anyone upset him so much, she thought they were on the same page that night. Lizzie finally calmed herself enough to open her eyes and head to the cabinet to find the popcorn as she walked closer to the other side of the kitchen a shadow caught her eye from the patio where the Jacuzzi was. Lizzie walked to the door to see who was out there, and as she got a full view she realized that it was Will in the hot tub; Lizzies eyes instantly grew in size as she saw Will's ridiculously defined muscles in her life, he was sitting with his lying back on a cushion as his olive skin dripped with steaming hot water. Lizzie knew she should have looked away, she knew she didn't want him to catch her watching him but she couldn't seem to pry her eyes away from him. Lizzie's fingers began fiddling with her necklace and her breathing became heavy as Will took his hand splashed a little water on himself without moving his head. Lizzie knew she couldn't deny that it was the sexiest thing she'd ever seen, it was almost like a movie the only thing that needed to happen now was for her to walk through the patio door and get in there with him! Lizzie was backing away from the door and slowly moving out of her trans and when she finally turned around Lydia was standing in the door way with a huge devilish grin on her face

"You were totally checking out Will just now!" she yelled in a whisper

"Shut up Lydia! I wasn't checking him out!" Lizzie had turned bright red as rushed out of the kitchen and past Lydia.

"Lizzie why can't you just admit that you are totally into Will!" she said trying to keep up with Lizzie's power walk through the house. Lizzie whirled around startling Lydia

"Listen to me ok I was not checking him out! And I am not into him I couldn't see who was out there and I was just trying to get a better look" Lizzie explained

"Oh bull! I could see from where I was standing that it was Will out there! You know Lizzie you're always teasing me about an immature romantic, you're the one who's immature, a blind person could see that you have feelings for him and by the time you realize the truth it'll too late" she shot back and before her sister had a chance to say anything she walked away leaving Lizzie standing in the hallway.


	16. Chapter 16

**Authors note: hey guys! So sorry it's taken so long to get chapter 15 out to you guys, I've been trying to really develop Lizzie's confliction and Darcy's realization into these last few chapters before the sequel starts. I have a few tricks up my sleeve for the last 5 chapters of this story, so stay tuned and here goes chapter 15.**

Chapter 15

As Lizzie lay next to the three other sleeping girls, Lydia's words were ringing in her head _but I couldn't possibly have feelings for Will! We've hardly ever had a real conversation our whole lives _she thought. Lizzie began to think of every moment she and Will had spent together over the last twelve years, and it brought her right back to their first kiss, she was trying to remember that night.

The moment she saw Will walk into the room with Richard he looked as jittery as he always did in a setting where there were more than four people around, and the moment they made eye contact was the very first time Lizzie noticed Will blush in front of her and how he had touched his face and averted his eyes, lizzie just figured it was because he had been caught looking at her. When the boys finally approached where she and her friends were standing Will had also spoken to her directly in a none combative way for the first time, Lizzie had been caught off guard and for some reason she felt that needed to be even more rude to him. Lizzie remembered being annoyed by Will's polite behavior and expressing her displeasure to Charlotte

"Why is Will pretending to be nice to me?" Lizzie said with a look of disgust on her face

"It's a party Lizzie, jeez maybe he just doesn't want to argue with you for once" Char replied

"I guess" Lizzie said rolling her eyes

When it was Will's turn to spin the bottle during the game and it landed on Lizzie, she watched him turn bright red for the second time that evening as he offered to spin again, and Lizzie remembered the disappointment she felt and how angry she was with herself for feeling that way. When they were dared by Richard to go into the closet for seven minutes in heaven Lizzie remembered how fast her heart was beating and how incredibly nervous she'd felt, she would have never told a single soul that she had always wanted William to be her first kiss because in her mind it was ridiculous and not to mention completely embarrassing! The moment she revealed that she had never been kissed she had almost thought that Will would laugh at her, but once he told her that he had also never been kissed, Lizzie was sure they were on the same page but in the moments following the kiss she soon found out they were not.

Lizzie was lying next to Gigi with these thoughts replaying in her mind until she rolled over and taped her

"Gigi…. Are you awake?" Gigi shuffled and groaned a little before rolling over

"I am now I guess" she said in a raspy voice

"Could I maybe talk to you in the kitchen" Lizzie asked her

As Gigi followed Lizzie into the kitchen her heart was pounding, but she needed to get something off her chest. Once they were safely in the kitchen Lizzie stood on the opposite side of the island and began pacing the floor as she bit her lower lip. Gigi watched Lizzie quietly not realizing she was almost holding her breath as she waiting for Lizzie to speak.

"Ok so remember earlier when I said that I had never been kissed before, well I sort of lied" Lizzie started franticly

Gigi raised an eyebrow "you woke me up to tell me about your embarrassing first kiss?" she asked confused

"It was your brother" she blurted out quickly, Gigi's face was in shock and she wasn't quite sure if she had heard Lizzie correctly

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

"William was my first kiss, in 7th grade we kissed and I made him promise not to tell anyone and that's why he hates me!" Lizzie said speaking very quickly as she continued to pace the marble floor.

"Lizzie calm down and quite pacing you're making me dizzy" Gigi told her

"Sorry" Lizzie said resting her elbows on the counter and running her fingers through her wild slept on hair.

"Now, why are you telling me this" Gigi asked sitting in the island chair in front Lizzie

"tonight when Lydia asked me who my first kiss had been I realized no one had ever asked me that and so I never had to lie about it but its been on my mind all night"

"Well I can't say I'm not shocked, but truthfully I'm not that surprised" Gigi confessed she had always suspected something major happened that night Will came home upset but she had never imagined it was something like that.

"You mean Will never said anything, not even a hint?" Lizzie knew that Will told his younger sister everything.

"No, not a single word, but he was really upset about it" Gigi told her

"Really?"

"Yea, when I asked him what happened he just said that you two got into an argument…. But after that he wouldn't come out of the west wing for three days" Gigi recalled as she watched Lizzie continue to bite her bottom lip.

"Lizzie, I'm going to ask you something and I need you to be completely honest with me, why did you want Will to keep it a secret" Gigi asked, Lizzie looked up at her friend

"I didn't want anyone to think that I liked him, and I thought we were on the same page and I still have no idea why he was so angry" Lizzie told her

"Lizzie, Will is a lot more sensitive than his stone face would lead you to believe" Gigi couldn't tell Lizzie that her brother was totally in love with her, he'd be crushed if he found out his own sister told his secret he had never shared with a single soul; but how could she have this conversation with Lizzie without really giving details about Williams behavior after the kiss. Gigi decided that these two blind mice would have to figure out there feelings on their own, she was going to be neutral.

"Well now that that's out in the open maybe we can get some rest now" Gigi declared standing from her seat. Lizzie looked confused she thought Gigi would have asked more questions, but she decided maybe it was better that she didn't because she wasn't even sure that she would have all the answers.

"umm Gi… thanks for being understanding about this, back then I thought for sure your brother would embarrass me by telling everyone about it and I just panicked, I had no idea it would turn into a lifetime of William never speaking to me again" Lizzie confessed

"Well it seems like you two have made some progress these past few months, who knows maybe you guys could even be friends someday" Gigi said causing lizzie to laugh at the idea. As the girls walked back towards the living room where the other girls were, Lizzie felt totally relieved that she had finally confessed her secret. As Lizzie lye back down next to the other girls she fell asleep instantly, Gigi didn't have so much luck she had to talk to her brother right away! She quietly slipped away from the other girls without disturbing them. Once Gigi was out of the living room she stood in the hallway trying to think where the entrance to the cave could be and then it dawned on her, _the study! _Gigi quietly sprinted to the back of the house where the study was and stood there for a moment trying to think where entrance could be, she walked over to the huge computer chair and sat down behind the desk, she felt around under the table until her fingers skimmed over a small button and when she pressed it the book case moved to the side to reveal a flight of stairs. Gigi smiled and walked over to the book case and peered down the steps she could hear soft classical music and she knew her brother was down there, Gigi pressed the button on the wall the to close the book case and went flying down the stairs. Gigi had never been down the cave and was amazed at how roomy it was, it looked just like Will's bedroom at home except this had an adjacent living room attached. Once Gigi was inside her brothers hide away bedroom she climbed in the bed with him and shook him

"William Fitzwilliam Darcy Jr. You wake up right now!" she said. Her brother began to shake his head and his eyes flew open with fear and confusion.

"Gigi! How'd you get down here!? What's wrong!?" he said panicked

"I can't believe you kept a secret from me!" Gigi yelled, Will gave his sister an extremely confused look

"Georgiana you'll have to excuse my confusion, as it happens to be 3am and I have no idea what you're talking about!" Will yelled back at her

"You kissed Lizzie" she said folding her arms, in an instant Williams face lost all color

"Oh uhh…. THAT secret" he replied meekly

"Yes that secret! How could you not tell me!? I thought you trusted me!"

"Gigi I do trust you! But I am allowed to have my own personal secrets!" Will defended, and then a thought popped into his head "how do you even know about this!?" now it was Gigi's turn to blush.

"Uhh, Lizzie sort of told me….." Gigi told her brother, William's shoulders slumped and he looked totally embarrassed.

"When did she, I mean why did she?!" he sputtered

"Well we were all talking about first kisses and"

"ALL!? What do you mean all?! She told all of you!?" one of Will's worst nightmares was coming true and he couldn't help feeling like his world spinning.

"Will! Calm down she only told me" Gigi went on to tell Will exactly how Lizzie ended up telling her about the kiss, and as Will sat there listening to Gigi retell Lizzie's account of their epic first kiss Will couldn't believe it.

"She was nervous…" he practically whispered with a grin creeping up in the corners of his mouth. William had often wondered how Lizzie had felt about their kiss but he never dared to ask her, he just assumed she thought it was awful because she'd wanted him to keep it a secret.

"So Will why did it make you so upset that Lizzie asked you to keep it a secret" Gigi just had to know and now that the cat was out of the bag she thought there was no better time. William knew he had no choice but to tell his sister the truth, he knew he could trust her just as much as he trusted Olivia.

"You remember the week before Melissa's party? That huge fight Elizabeth and I had gotten into that got us sent home from school… well that was day I figured out I'd had a huge crush on her" Will started, he wasn't looking at his sister as he explained himself he was too afraid of the expression he may find on her face if he did, when he didn't hear her say anything he looked at her waiting for a reaction, but Gigi was simply watching him waiting for him to continue and finally he took a deep breath and continued

"When we were in that closet together… I was beside myself with anxiety because I was terrified of my own feelings for her; when she told me she wanted to kiss me I thought maybe I wasn't so crazy and that maybe she felt the same way…. Then she pushed me away and told that she didn't want me tell anyone and I was devastated and I decided that I had to get over her and the only way to do that was to pretend she didn't exist" Gigi was heartbroken by her brothers story, she was shocked that he'd been keeping all those feelings bottled up for so long, and for once she had no words.

"Well…. Say something Georgiana" Will chuckled nervously

"I'm sorry I'm just a little speechless, I mean I'll be honest I've always known that you had feelings for her but I had no idea that you had been so heartbroken" Gigi said, Will chuckled again he appreciated his sisters concern.

"Gigi it was six years ago I'm over that now"

"So…. Do you still have feelings for Lizzie?" she asked cautiously, it was weird how confident William felt with being truthful about his feelings and he knew he had Olivia to thank for that.

"Umm, yea I do Gi…"

"What about Olivia?"

Will had totally forgotten that no one knew that he and Liv had decided to just remain friends, the thought made Will laugh a little and caused his sister to give him a strange look, when he noticed her face he explained

"Olivia and I broke up, Gigi"

"Ok… and why exactly is that funny to you?" Gigi asked with one eyebrow raised

"Because she and I have never been closer" Will said

"Ok now I am totally confused" Gigi said.

Will explained everything to Gigi and she couldn't help laughing at her brother, she couldn't believe how easily Olivia had read his feelings for Lizzie.

"I can't believe your girlfriend told you that you were in love with Lizzie" she said laughing

"I not in love with her, I just…. I don't know…. I Have certain"

"You're in love with her Will" Gigi said cutting him off

"ok fine, but can we please go to sleep now it's 4am, and I think you've harassed me enough for the night" William said yawning, he was done with confessing for the night.

"Fine you can go back to sleep, but I'm staying I don't feel like going back upstairs" Gigi said snuggling under the covers next to her brother, William chose not to protest instead he just cut the light out and laid down himself drifting to sleep instantly.

It had been a week since school started back after winter vacation, Olivia had finally gotten the chance to tell the girls that she and Will had broken up. Olivia knew the girls would find that hard to believe because she and Will had spent every day together since they'd been back, she felt closer to him than ever.

"Well you two don't act like people who just broke up" Lizzie said to her friend

"That's because we realized we're better off as friends, and I mean why should we give that up!?" Olivia explained beaming at both Lizzie and char.

"Ok well then you seem okay with all of this, so if you're happy I'm happy" Lizzie said hugging her friend, in her mind though, she was doing a little happy dance! Lizzie couldn't help being overjoyed about the break up, Liv could do so much better than Will Darcy anyway and maybe this would relieve some the tension she had been secretly feeling towards liv. Charlotte remained quiet during Olivia's announcement she knew this story had few holes in it. When school was over Charlotte decided to spend the rest of the day with her friend.

"Ok so now that Lizzie isn't around… are you going to tell me what really happened between you and Will?" Charlotte said with her eyebrows raised, Olivia looked at her in disbelief before saying

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Oh cut crap liv!"

"That's the truth! After you and I spoke before the break I realized that I didn't really have feelings for Will and he didn't really have feelings for either" Charlotte was listening to liv intently as she processed the information, and then it hit her like a ton of bricks and she covered her mouth and pointed at liv.

"Oh my god what's wrong!?" Olivia asked frantically not understanding her friends reaction.

"You figured out that Will is in love with Lizzie!" Char said uncovering her mouth and wiggling her finger at Olivia. In an instance Olivia's eyes grew wide as she covered her own mouth and pointed at Charlotte

"Oh my god! How do you know that!?" Olivia couldn't believe Charlotte knew about Williams's feelings for Lizzie, but the bigger question here was how?


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 16

Olivia was still standing in front of Charlotte with her mouth open.

"How do you know that?! Did he tell you that!?" Olivia questioned needing answers, char simply laughed

"Of course Will didn't tell me that, but it's pretty obvious to anyone that's been around long enough" she said

"Well not to me! And you didn't even say anything! You just let me date him" Olivia said

"Well I actually thought he was over it for a minute he seemed really into you, but I guess not" there was long pause before Olivia spoke again, she was still trying to wrap her mind around things.

"So… how long have you known" Olivia asked

"We've all known since maybe 6th grade" Charlotte said

"Wait 'we'!? What do you mean we!?" Olivia was beginning to feel totally left out of the group, how could they have allowed her to date Will knowing that he was in love with Lizzie! Charlotte knew she was going to have to explain this whole thing to Liv, it's a known unspoken fact amongst there group of friends that William Darcy has been in love with Lizzie Bennett for as long as they could remember, but Will is far too shy and terrified of Lizzie to ever tell her the truth and Lizzie is far too stubborn to even entertain the idea of having feelings for Will even though it was clear that she did.

"We all know liv, we just don't talk about it because we know that neither of them will ever admit to it, and when you guys started dating I just figured he had finally gotten over his feelings for her, but judging from the fact that you two broke up it seems like maybe it's gotten worse"

"No not worse, he's just more comfortable with admitting to himself that he does have feelings for her" Olivia told her. Charlotte paused for a moment Olivia seemed way too sure of this idea

"Olivia….. How exactly did you find out that Will has feelings for Lizzie?" Liv explained everything to Charlotte and she just listened intently, she couldn't believe Will had actually admitted any of this to Olivia.

" wow I never thought I'd see the day when William Darcy would actually say what we've all known all this time, I'm glad you figured it out and confronted him, now he can tell her and we can finally stop listening to Lizzie pretend to hate his guts" Charlotte said rolling her

"Char, Will isn't planning to tell Lizzie about any of this" Charlotte rolled her eyes once more before saying

"Well damn it! Now we're right back at square one!" Olivia burst into laughter at her friend.

"Hey by the way do you happen to know Will's middle name?" Olivia had meant what she said when she vowed to find out

"I have no clue, but I'm sure Lizzie will know they used to argue any time she would threaten to use it in public" Charlotte told her, Olivia rolled her eyes

"They are so in love it's ridiculous how could I have missed that" she said smacking herself on the forehead.

Lying in her bed, Lizzie had been thinking about Olivia's news of she and Will's break up all day, she really didn't know how she felt. The only thing she knew for sure was that she couldn't have been happier about it. After their weird encounter in the stables lizzie couldn't stop thinking about Will's hand around her waist and the way his touch made her feel, it was pure electric! Since they'd been back at school Lizzie decided to take the advanced poetry class because she'd found the first semester class so interesting even if Will was totally annoying. She and Will must have been thinking the same thing because for the second time this year they shared the same class, it was right back to him being the know-it-all jerk she couldn't stand. As Mrs. Hanson introduced this advanced poetry she let the class know they'd be exploring the depths of their own emotions through poetry. Lizzie ended up sitting right in front of Will in class and she could feel his eyes watching her, and even though she couldn't see she couldn't stop herself from imagining his piercing blue watching her and normally the thought would disgust Lizzie but now when she thought about it, she felt warm inside, it was totally weird. When they weren't in class Olivia and Will seemed to be joined at the hip, he was always laughing with her! Lizzie couldn't deny that it annoyed the hell out of her _what was so funny_ she always found herself thinking and how could two people that broke up become even closer!? It made no sense! Lizzie couldn't find it in herself to admit that she was jealous of the relationship Olivia had with Will. She'd known him her whole life and Will is known for being one of the most boring, super serious guys she's ever met, but when Liv talks about him she makes him seem so fun and lively it's like she's talking about stranger, Lizzie hardly ever saw Will's dimpled smile but when he's with Olivia his smile never goes away. What could they possibly be talking about that would make it impossible for him to stop smiling at her!? Lizzie's thoughts were plagued with jealousy and she hated it, Olivia was her best friend and she was allowed to have other friends, even it was William Darcy and there was no rule against William being happy, but why did he have to be happy with her best friend!? Lizzie was tired of lying around with her thoughts, so she got up and ran to her sister's room, the door was closed and she could hear Charlie's voice, she knocked and said

"You two aren't in there doing anything I don't want to see are you?" Lizzie giggled a little she could practically feel Jane blushing through the door.

"You can come in Lizzie bear" Charlie called out to her. Lizzie opened up the door to find Charlie sitting at the computer desk and Jane sitting on the bed.

"What are you guys up to" Lizzie asked sitting on the bed next to her sister

"I was just leaving" Charlie said gathering his things from the desk and putting them in his backpack.

"Gotta catch Will before Olivia steals him for the night" Charlie finished, quickly kissing Jane and heading out of her bedroom door. Lizzie rolled her eyes at Charlie's comment, before burying her face into her sister's pillow and letting out a loud "UGH!"

Jane laughed at her sister's dramatic outburst

"What's wrong with you?" Jane asked nudging her; Lizzie lifted her head from the pillow

"Do you know Will and Olivia broke up two weeks ago" Lizzie stated

"What!? How can that be? They were together yesterday" Jane said stunned

"Exactly! But she told Charlotte and I today at lunch"

"Well did she say why they broke up?"

"All she said was, they realized they didn't have romantic feelings towards each other and that they decided to remain friends" Lizzie said mocking Olivia's voice

"I mean how can they just go from dating to being friends? They've spent every day together I've hardly even seen Olivia this week!" Lizzie said dramatically throwing up her hands.

"Well you seem a bit bothered by the whole thing" Jane said

"Janie I'm not bothered, I'm just….. Annoyed by it all" Lizzie finally resolved. Jane looked at her sister, and decided this whole thing was becoming more ridiculous by the second.

"Lizzie you know I normally don't say much where you and Will are concerned but don't let your confused feelings for him ruin your relationship with one of your best friends" Jane stated firmly, Lizzie's mouth practically hit the floor

"Jane Katherine Bennett! I can't believe it, not you to!?" Lizzie thought she could count on her sensible sister to understand her pure hatred for Will.

"I can't believe you just said that! I don't have confusing feelings for Will! I don't like him, I can't stand the guy! And now he's hogging my best friend! For once I'd like for someone to be on my side!" Lizzie was completely fed up with everyone thinking that Will was so innocent and she was the bad guy. Jane sighed at her sister she couldn't believe her level of stubbornness sometimes, she was acting like a big baby.

"Lizzie answer this question, what has Will done in the past five years that would justify you still hating him" Jane asked, and for once Lizzie had no comeback. Even Lizzie couldn't honestly sit there and lie, Will hadn't done or said a single thing to her in the past five years; the only thing he was guilty of is finding every possible way to avoid her.

"I guess he hasn't actually done anything to me….." Lizzie confessed

"so then why are you still hanging onto this idea that you still hate him, if you're still thinking about the kiss he had every right to be upset that night Lizzie" Jane told her, Lizzie's ears began to ring as the words passed her sisters mouth.

"How did you know about that?" she asked calmly

"I'm your sister Lizzie, it wasn't hard to figure out" Jane said rolling her eyes

"And I can't believe you're letting one stupid little kiss determine you feelings about him forever"

"Me!? Jane he stopped speaking to me! He's been avoiding me since that night! How could you even say he had the right to be upset?" Lizzie yelled, Jane gave her sister a stern look before calmly telling her

"Lizzie what did you say to him after you kissed"

"I wanted him to promise that he wouldn't tell anyone" Lizzie said

"Okay and you don't think that would cause him to be upset?"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore, I shouldn't have said anything" Lizzie said standing from her sister's bed and leaving the room, Jane made no attempt to stop her she knew Lizzie would come back later. Lizzie hated this! She had hardly given that stupid kiss any thought in the last few years and now it was all anyone that knew could talk about! Why doesn't anyone care about she feels!? Or how the last 5 years have felt for her! No! The only thing anyone ever thought about was how Will must have felt, how shy Will is! What the hell does that have to do with anything? How about the fact that Will has been pretending that she doesn't exist for the last five year, or the fact that he hates her; or the fact that every interaction they've ever had has been totally awkward and uncomfortable. Lizzie was done talking about Will, thinking about Will, anything that had to do with William Fitzwilliam Darcy she no longer wanted to be involved in and she was absolutely not going to Sunday dinner next week!


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 17

"Elizabeth Annabelle Bennett you get your ass dressed because you will not miss another family dinner!" Mrs. Bennett yelled at her daughters locked door.

"I told you already I am not going to another dumb family dinner!" Lizzie yelled back; it was now March and Lizzie had stuck to her guns and had not attended two family dinners and she was proud of herself, why was Will always the one that got to hide? Her parents had let Lizzie's little tricks go on only for a little while until her mother figured put what was really going on.

"Lizzie I am not kidding you get dressed right now, young lady!" as Mrs. Bennett yelled at the door for a second time Mr. Bennett came up the stairs

"will you please talk to your unreasonable child! Jane would never do this!" her mother said stomping away.

Lizzie could hear her mother's foot steps fading and she thought she was in the clear until she heard

"Lizzie bear, would let me in" Mr. Bennett said, Lizzie couldn't help being a daddy's girl her dad always approached her much differently than her mother ever did. Lizzie unlocked the door and said "come in" Mr. Bennett walked into his daughters room to find her sitting on her bed clutching her pillow in her arms. Her father chuckled a bit

"Well isn't this a familiar sight" Lizzie looked up at her dad confused

"what do you mean?" she asked. Her father laughed again.

"remember your 7th birthday party when Will cried to his mother that he didn't want to be there and you came up here and hugged your pillow just like that and said that he was never invited to another birthday ever" Mr. Bennett laughed at his daughter, Lizzie didn't think it was so funny she remembered that day, Will had told everyone he didn't want to be at the party because she had cooties and he was going to catch it if he stayed.

"Dad I'm not going to dinner" Lizzie stated firmly, her father looked straight at her

"Lizzie bear, you absolutely are going to dinner"

"but dad!"

"relax Lizzie I'm not making you go to torture you I'm making you go because whatever issue you're having with Will won't be solved by hiding from him, I expect better from you, you're more mature than that" Lizzie hated it when her father hit her with the 'I expect better from you' bit, it always made her feel like she was disappointing him. Lizzie rolled her eyes

"fine! But I won't be happy about it!" Lizzie pouted walking towards the bathroom.

"that's my Lizzie bear" her father said from behind her.

When Will heard the door bell he ran out of the kitchen to answer it knowing that it was the Bennett family. When William opened the door he wasn't expecting to see Lizzie's face, she hadn't been over for family dinner in two months and Will was certain that Lizzie had found some new reason to be angry with him and decided to stop coming to dinner all together, the thought actually made Will smile wide enough to show his dimple as he greeted the Bennett's into his home, Will had finally come to conclusion that Lizzie was always going to invent a new reason to hate him, and he would continue to do what he'd been doing….avoiding her at possible cost. As the parents went into the family room and the kids went into the den Will noticed Lizzie's eyes grow wide

"Lizzie!? I didn't know you'd be here tonight!" Olivia greeted her friend, lizzie was visibly confused

"what are you doing here?" Lizzie asked

" oh over been here all day I'm staying for dinner" she said smiling. Will watched Lizzie's face and it seemed she was trying to remain cool. Will and Olivia had been closer than ever, they spent a lot of time together and in the last few weeks liv had been feeling like lizzie was giving her the cold shoulder, which brings us to dinner tonight will had asked Liv to join his family for dinner not knowing that Lizzie would show up and from the looks of it lizzie didn't seem very happy to see her best friend. Will never really understood women, and Lizzie was no exception, but it didn't take an expert to figure out that Lizzie was not happy; but he honestly didn't understand why.

As everyone sat at the dinning table, Lizzie was becoming more and more irritated, Will and Olivia were across the table giggling at each other like school girls! how ridiculous! Lizzie hadn't been spending a lot of time with Olivia lately, but that's because she was always with William F. Darcy! Lizzie could hardly get a hold of her friend because Will was always hogging her! And now sitting at the table watching them flirt like no one could tell was making Lizzie's blood boil. _I knew shouldn't have come to this stupid dinner _lizzie thought. When dinner was over before the parents and kids went there separate ways lizzie squeezed her dad's arm

"dad can you just take me home please?" Lizzie practically begged

"Lizzie bear I thought you were going to be mature" her father replied, lizzie rolled her eyes " Well I'm not mature I'm a child that wants to go home" Mr. Bennett wiggled himself free from his daughters grip before pointing in the direction of Darcy entertainment room where everyone else was; Lizzie knew what that meant so she simply pouted walked in the direction of her father's still pointing finger _I'll just walk home then _lizzie decided to herself. As lizzie made her way towards the entertainment room where everyone else was she tried to power walk towards the kitchen but was stopped by liv

"Lizzie where are you going?" she asked

"I'm going home Olivia" Lizzie stated her voice oozing with irritation

"your parents are ready to go already?" Liv asked confused

"no they're not, but I am so I'm walking home" Lizzie said

"okay then…. I'll walk with you" Olivia had been wanting to talk lizzie for a while now but lizzie had been totally avoiding her.

"no you don't have to"

"but I want to"

"maybe you should just stay here with your wonderful new best friend you guys seem so happy together" Lizzie couldn't help it, she was furious and she didn't want to be in the same room with them for another second!

"what the hell is that supposed to mean Lizzie?" Olivia asked in defense

"you and Will seem be cozy enough don't let me ruin your good time together" Lizzie shot back

"are you kidding me right now!? You're the one that hasn't been speaking to me!" Olivia almost shouted.

"I'm not about to have this conversation with you right now, have fun with Will I'm sure you guys will be very happy together!" Lizzie yelled before stalking down the hall. Olivia didn't even bother going after her, she was too shocked at friends behavior, as she stood Will appeared next to her

"Liv, is everything ok? I thought I heard Lizzie yelling" Will asked with his thick brows scrunched

"You did hear Lizzie yelling…" Liv said still in a state of shock

"about what?"

"Will…. I think maybe we stop spending so much time together" Olivia said hesitantly, Will looked at her with a mixture of disbelief and hurt.

"what! Why?"

"I just think maybe I need to spend some time with Lizzie"

"But she's been avoiding you for weeks now, why do I have to lose a friend because she's off in a corner pouting?" Will was becoming more and more upset he couldn't believe Olivia was actually suggesting they stop being friends because Lizzie was upset! This was ridiculous!

"where is she!?" Will asked

"she just ran down the hall she said she was walking home, but Will listen" before Olivia could finish Will had brushed past her, he was so furious he needed to speak to Lizzie right away. He knew that she couldn't have gotten too far; Will sprinted down the hall to the back door of the kitchen and he was right Lizzie had just made it to the end of the drive way.

"Elizabeth!" he called to her, but she didn't hear so he ran a bit to catch up to where she was and he called to her again

"Elizabeth stop!" Will watched Lizzie's head whirl around to face him, and could tell that she was shocked to find that he had been the one calling her name. Will didn't really know what he wanted to say at the moment but he was so angry he just let the words flow from his mouth freely.

"I can't believe you would actually suggest to Olivia that we should stop being friends!" he shouted, Lizzie's face immediately matched the anger Will was feeling

"I never suggested anything like that!"

"ohhhh really!? Then why did she just tell me that we should stop hanging out!?"

"ohhhh I don't know maybe because it's totally obvious that there's more going on between you two than you guys are letting on!"

"what the hell are you talking about?"

"oh come on Will! I'm not stupid! I can see that there's still something going on!"

"you know what Elizabeth, you just can't stand the idea that someone you know doesn't hate me as much as you do! Am I not allowed to be happy!?" Will had never understood why Lizzie always had it out for him but tonight he was determined to find out.

"I don't care about your happiness Darcy! I'm just sick of seeing you two pretending like there's nothing going on!" Lizzie yelled back at him, and then it hit him and he suddenly understood what the problem was.

"you're jealous!" Will shouted

"what!?" Lizzie said as her eyes grew wide with utter disbelief

"You heard me! You're jealous you can't stand the idea that Olivia wants to hang out with me and not you!" Will concluded

"Listen William Fitzwilliam Darcy! I don't care who wants to be friends with you! And I am not jealous of anything! She'll figure out soon enough that you're the absolute worst person to be around!" Lizzie yelled back him then whirled back around and attempted to walk away from him. Before she take another step Will grabbed her arm and spun her back around to face him; in an instant Lizzie had lost all thought as she and Will made direct eye contact

"Elizabeth , I want to know right now what your problem is? For the last six years I've done exactly what you asked! You told me you never wanted to speak to me again and I did that! I don't speak to you, I don't even look in your direction if I don't have to! Yet you've managed to once again find a reason to be angry with me! So you tell me right now what you want me to do!?" Will said in a tone that sent chills down Lizzie's spin. Lizzie opened her mouth to speak but no words were coming out, they were just standing there with Will's large hand still wrapped firmly around her arm, as Lizzie tried her hardest not to make direct eye contact with him.

"I'm waiting Elizabeth…. What is it going to take for you to stop hating me?" Will pressed

"Why don't you just go back inside with the love of your life and leave me the hell alone!" Lizzie yelled ripping her arm from Williams firm grip.

" you know what Elizabeth, I wish I was in love with someone like Olivia and not someone like you!" Will yelled and quickly turned on his heel and angrily walked away, leaving Lizzie standing there in confusion of his final words to her.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 18

Will was shaking with anger as he walked back up the pathway to his home. _How can I possibly be in love with her!? She's crazy! _He thought to himself. Will had finally reached the back door of the kitchen which he hadn't realized he'd left open, when he entered the kitchen he was startled to find Liv sitting on the side of the island counter with her arms folded waiting for him.

"I was going to run after you, but I thought Lizzie would just feel like we were ganging up on her" Olivia said calmly, she watched Will pace back and forth she'd never seen him so angry before. She climbed down from the island to stand in front of her pacing friend and grabbed his balled fist.

" Will, tell me what's on your mind" Olivia said to him, he'd finally stopped pacing and just stood there with his head down in deep thought as he tried to piece together the content of he and Lizzie's ridiculous argument. He was trying to find the right words to describe his feelings, but he began to speak anyway

"How on earth can I have feelings for someone that wants nothing more than to see me miserable?"

"I don't think that's it at all, Will"

"I told her she was just jealous that you'd rather spend time with me than with her, and she said that I should just go back inside with the love of my life! How ridiculous! That had nothing to do with anything! She's seriously a crazy person!" Will told her shaking his head

"I told her I wished that I was in love with someone like you rather than her!" he finished the anger felt in the moment returning. Liv paused as her eyes grew wide with shock _does he even realize he just told her he was in love with her!?_

"Sooo you admitted that you were in love with her" Olivia stated, startled by the idea Will stood straight

"What!? Of course I didn't tell her that! I just meant that I wished I was in love with someone like you, you know that actually cares about me…. And not someone like her that absolutely Hates me" Will explained

"Well… do you think she saw it that way?" Liv asked.

Will hadn't been thinking about anything up until that point, he was just angry with Lizzie and with himself for not being able to control his utterly insane feelings for her. Will could only hope that Lizzie hadn't caught his little slip up, because he had no intention on telling her the truth.

As Lizzie walked home, the cold night air was causing her tears to feel like icicles. She hated herself for allowing Will to get the best of her! How could she have let her guard down so much!? And things she'd said to Olivia were terrible and Lizzie knew her friend didn't deserve that. When Lizzie finally reached home she couldn't wait to crawl into her bed and continue to sob. Lizzie wasn't sure how long she'd been in her bed when she heard her family walk through the front door she could hear her mother's muffled complaints about her leaving the Darcy home early, Lizzie silently prayed her mother would just fuss at her in the morning because she had no energy to argue with her tonight; Lizzie also didn't feel like explaining her puffy red eyes either, she simply wanted to be left alone. As Lizzie lie in bed falling asleep with tears still rolling down her cheeks she heard her door open, Lizzie decided to pretend to be asleep so that whoever it was wouldn't bother her. Lizzie felt the cool air as her covers were lifted on both sides and both her sisters slid into her comfy bed and hugged her on both sides.

"We know you aren't sleeping Lizzie bear" Lydia whispered

"And we heard about the argument…. Both of them" Jane whispered from behind her. Lizzie opened her puffy eyes to find her little sister snuggled against her and she turned her body and was now lying on her back looking up at the ceiling.

"Why does he always get the best of me? We haven't argued in six years and he still knows just how to get me angry!" Lizzie expressed angrily as the tears continued to roll down the sides of her face.

"Lizzie can I ask you something?" Lydia said, Lizzie remained quiet and Lydia took that as a green light.

"Why are you so angry with Will?" Lizzie was going to come up with an excuse but she truly had no energy for that, instead she let her heart speak.

"Because our entire life Will has never made the effort to try to get to know me, he never wanted to be friends, he's never been approachable or even open to the idea of new friends anywhere! But now all of a sudden he wants to steal my best friend! Do you see him when they're together!? It's like he's different person, he's always smiling and laughing he's even spending less time with Charlie and Richard to be with Liv, and we're supposed to believe that there's nothing else going on!?" Lizzie explained to her sisters

"Lizzie, just because they spend a lot of time together doesn't mean they're secretly dating still, Liv said they cut that off once they figured out they weren't romantically interested in each other" Jane said

"Well that's not the way it seems, I hate feeling like I'm being lied to! And when I told him to just go back inside with the love of his life, he says that he wishes that he was in love with someone like Liv instead of someone like me!" Lizzie said as a single tear rolled down the side of her face, she hadn't realized how hurtful his words had been until she said it out loud. Lydia and Jane look at one another with the same expression to confirm what they'd just heard.

"Sooo he admitted that he's in love with you" Lydia stated

"What are you talking about?" Lizzie said

"I'm saying that he finally admitted that he's in love with you Lizzie" Lydia couldn't believe how clueless her sister was.

"Lydia don't be ridiculous that's not what he meant" Lizzie said unsure of her own words

"Lizzie, listen we're going to be straight forward with you right now" Jane said firmly as she sat up in the bed causing her sisters to do the same, and then she continued

"… Will is in love with you, he's always been in love with you, and tonight he may have accidentally admitted that to you, but you're so angry you can't even see past your own clouded judgment" Jane finished. Lizzie was more than confused by what her sister was saying, I mean that couldn't be right could it? Lizzie replayed his words in her mind over and over, she hadn't really considered Will's meaning she just heard him say '_in love with liv'. _ She had been so angry she was hardly listening to him at all because all she really wanted was for the both of them to know how upset she was.

"Jane how on earth could you think Will is in love with me!?" Jane gave her sister a look that read '_are you kidding me' _could Lizzie really have been this oblivious all this time!

"Lizzie it's obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes that's known you two long enough"

"Jane, Will and I have never gotten along, he made it perfectly clear the day we met that he had no interest in becoming friends" Lizzie couldn't believe they were still holding on to this idea that Will would someday confess his imaginary love for her.

" Lizzie, listen we can't argue with you on this one, Will is in love with you and if you'd stop being so stubborn you'd realize that you feel the same way" Lydia said; and with that Lydia and Jane left Lizzie's bed leaving her with only those words to think about. Lying there in the dark with only her thoughts to keep her company, Lizzie remembered all the way back to second grade, to she and Will's first argument, he was constantly starring at her and Lizzie couldn't stand it! She had promised herself that she would give him dirty looks for the rest of the school year! But the next day when Lizzie walked into class there was note on her desk with a ninja turtle coloring book and crayons, Lizzie loved ninja turtles and the coloring book looked just like her back pack. When Lizzie read the note it said "_I'm sorry- __ W. Darcy" _Lizzie would never tell anyone, but she had saved note and the coloring book and sometimes she would pull it out of the back of her closet and stare at the note. Lizzie had always wanted to be friends with Will, but he never wanted to talk to her and she simply came to the conclusion that he just didn't like her and she never wanted to admit that his total reluctance to become friends had always secretly hurt her feelings. So how could it possible that someone that couldn't hold a conversation with her be in love with her? Lizzie knew that she would never find out the answer to that question because after an argument like that, she was sure William Darcy was transferring schools at that very moment.

Will woke up Monday morning around 4am and began packing his suitcase, he had decided that he just wasn't ready to face Lizzie. Will had tried to make as little noise as possible, he'd decided he would call his parents once he arrived in the Poconos. As Will made his way down into kitchen to wait for the driving service to pick him up and take him to the families private plane he was shocked to find his mother sitting at the counter. Will became frozen in place as his mother looked at him with questioning eyes.

"Good morning" Will said stiffly, his mother chuckled as she turned and pointed to the window where there was still darkness.

"I don't know if it's quit morning yet, Fitz" his mother said

"What are you doing up" Will asked

"Well I could ask you the same thing, couldn't I?" she replied as she looked her son up and down and stopped at his suitcase, before meeting his nervous eyes again.

"Going on vacation without us?" she asked with a slight smirk, Will was quiet as his mind frantically tried to come up with a lie, sensing his panic Mrs. Darcy decided to end her son's agony.

"I'm giving you one week young man" she said folding her arms, Will looked at her with wide eyes.

"How did you know?" Will asked slowly

"William I am your mother, you have been running away from Lizzie since you were five" Will immediately felt embarrassed, he hated that he was so predictable

"I'm not running from her" he weakly defended

"Yes you are… but this is the last time that you'll do it, do you understand?" she said sternly, to which Will simply nodded her head.

"Good, now give your mother a hug and call when you land" she said with her arms stretched waiting for her son's embrace. Will squeezed his mother tight

"You're the best mom ever" he said into her hair

"Yeah, I know now get going" she said. Will didn't bother questioning why his mother was so supportive of him leaving home for a few days by himself, he hoped that she simply understood how incredibly uncomfortable school would be if he didn't clear his mind. Will needed to take some time for himself and think about a new way to rid himself of his feelings for Lizzie.

When Will finally arrived to the family cabin in the woods he sat his bags down in the middle of the foyer and headed back out the door he couldn't wait to see Belle. As Will made his way to Belle's stable he was surprised to find that she wasn't there. Will figured someone must have taken her out for her exercise run, and sure enough when he turned the corner there she was running around the huge fenced in yard, Will stood there and watched her for a while and as he did he couldn't help thinking about Lizzie and the moment they shared in the stable. Will thought about how close they had been, how warm his body felt when he'd touched her hand, the smell of her hair as he stood behind her, it had taken everything in his power not to kiss her; Will sighed loudly as he ran his fingers through his dark hair in frustration _you came here to clear your mind of Elizabeth, not continue to day dream about her! _His mind screamed, as Will continued to mentally scold himself, he hadn't even noticed Becca and his horse walking over to him until she spoke

"Fitz what are you doing here in the middle of the month it isn't spring break already is it?" she said, Will looked at her as if he was trying to process what she'd said

"oh…. Uhh yeah" Will said almost incoherently. Becca looked at him with one eyebrow raised

"yeah, because that totally answered my question" she said with a laugh, which made Will blush as he realized how silly he must sound .

"Sorry, Becca no it's not spring break I just needed to get away for a few days, I came alone" he said

"Wow not even Richard came huh?"

"No he doesn't know I'm gone… no one does… well except my mom"

"Yeah… she sort of called me before you got here" she said meekly, Will groaned he couldn't believe his mother called Becca, he was eighteen years old he didn't need a babysitter!

"Relax, Will she didn't tell me anything she just said that you were coming" Becca reassured him.

"look why don't you take Belle for a ride I'll head back to the house and make dinner" Becca offered with a warm smile, even though she was only three years older Becca could be so motherly at times, but right now the temptation of a relaxed evening with good food was an offer Will would be crazy to refuse.

"Sounds like a plan to me" Will said eagerly hoping the fence finally greeting his horse. Becca chuckled at his excitement, she was sure that a nice home cooked meal would loosen the Darcy-bot just enough to tell her what was going on.

When Will finally arrived back at the cabin after hours of riding Belle, he entered into the most heavenly scent he'd ever smelled, he walked into the kitchen to find a steaming hot baking dish of his favorite, lasagna. Will could hardly contain his excitement _this is just what I needed a chance to take my mind off things _he thought, Becca walked into the kitchen from living room

"Oh good you're just in time, I made slow cooker brownies too!" she said

"This looks amazing Becks, you really didn't need to go through all this trouble I could have ordered something" Will told her

"Will, you know I love cooking it wasn't any trouble trust me" she explained. Will and Becca ate their dinner at the island counter in the kitchen and talked about a bunch of nothing for a while, once Becca prepared the brownie ala mode for the two of them and they retired to the living room to eat, now that he was comfortable Becca thought now was the perfect time to ask what was going on with him.

"ok William Darcy, spill it what are you doing up here on a Monday in the middle of the year?" she asked with one brow raised, her question had caught Will completely off guard and he really didn't want to talk about it, he had come to the Poconos to get away from his problem not be reminded of them.

"uhhh I'd rather not talk about it" Will said, Becca rolled her eyes _ok looks like I have to drag it out of him _she thought with a smirk.

"this wouldn't happen to be about the girl you were hiding from during winter break, would it?" she pried, Will's head snapped forward to look at Becca as his cheeks became red hot, he was going to try to make up something but decided it was no use, as he hung his head he said

"Am I really that transparent?" Becca laughed poor little Darcy-bot

"Well yes annndd Richard sort of told me a little" she said squinting her eyes as she pinched her fingers together.

"What!? I've never told Richard anything! He'd just blab if I did! What did he say?" Will was beginning to have a mild heart attack at the idea of his cousin knowing about his feelings for Lizzie. Becca laughed again

"Calm down Will and give your cousin some credit, he hasn't told anyone anything"

"He told you" Will snarled

"Well I don't count, I don't go to school with you guys" she declared

"What did he tell you? How did it even come up?" Will needed to know the details of what Richard had told her.

"Well he told me because when you guys were here for break, I asked him why you'd been acting so distant and he just said that the girl you're in love with was here and that you hide from her whenever she's around" she said simply, Will's mouth practically hit the floor! How is it that everyone around him knows something that he'd thought he'd done a pretty good of keeping secret!?

"I can't believe he told you that" Will said and he couldn't help but laugh a little, he realized at that moment he must seem pretty ridiculous.

"Well are you going to set the record straight or do I have to keep drawing my own conclusions?" and with that Will told Becca everything right up to their argument the previous night, and she listened intently to everything he was saying not saying a word until he finished.

"So you think running away from her is going to help you fall out of love with her?" Becca asked

"It's worked before" Will defended

"No, you just temporarily convinced yourself that the feelings weren't there which is the reason you feel them more strongly now" Will wanted protest, to tell her she was wrong, but he knew it was truth so he said nothing and she continued

"Listen, the only way you are ever going to be able to get over her is if you tell her truth" she said, Will's eyes grew wide with fear at the very thought, how could she possibly think that was the solution to this problem!?

"Becca are you crazy!? I can't tell Elizabeth that I have feelings for her!"

"Why not'"

"Did you miss the part where I told you she hates me!?" Will was becoming frustrated, no one had ever made such a suggestion to him and he couldn't understand why on earth Becca thought this would be a good idea.

"so what if she does, it's not about her it's about you, you can't run away from her every time she makes you uncomfortable" Becca needed Will to understand that that he couldn't just run away from his problems because no matter how far he travels they'll still be there when he returns.

"Ok what's the worst thing that could happen, you tell her that you love her and then what?"

"Well… she'd reject me" Will said with his shoulders slumped.

"Ok so she rejects you, that's not the end of the world Darcy"

"What!? Becca I'd be totally embarrassed, it wouldn't be a simple 'I don't feel the same way' oh no, Elizabeth would tell me how disgusted she was at the very thought! She'd never let me live it down!" Will was picturing the scenario in his mind as he spoke and the image in his mind of Lizzie's face made him wince.

"You're still missing the point! It's not about her, if you tell her and she rejects you, that means not only have you confronted the issue it also means that you can move past it, Will… you'll go away to college and meet a new girl and you'll fall in love with her and she'll love you back, because that's the way life goes, nothing last forever… not even heart break" Becca reassured. Will's face was the perfect picture of realization, there had never been a time that he had thought that he could actually tell Lizzie the truth until that very moment.

"I wouldn't even know what to say" Will said

"The words don't need to be perfect they just need to be honest" Becca replied as she covered Will's hand with hers.

After Becca had gone home for the night Will was left with a lot to think about, and decided that she was right it was time he faced his problems head on, no matter what the outcome would be. Will decided that he would stay in the Poconos for two more days so that he could clear his mind and prepare himself, because when he gets back to San Francisco he was finally going to tell Elizabeth Annabelle Bennett that was madly in love with her.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 19

Walking into first period poetry, Lizzie wasn't the least bit surprised to find Will not seated in the desk behind her. She could admit that she felt a vast amount of relief, seeing him today would just be way too uncomfortable. Lizzie was however, looking forward to seeing Olivia to explain her outburst, she needed her to understand that the anger was only partially directed towards her. When she walked into the cafeteria Olivia wasn't sitting at their normal table next to charlotte; Lizzie took her seat next to char as she awkwardly asked

"Where's Liv?" Char turned to look at her friend with one brow raised

"Are you seriously asking me that? Do you really think she wants to see you right now?" Lizzie rolled her eyes, she knew there was no way she was escaping Charlotte's lecture.

"Can we not do this right now?" she pleaded

"Lizzie, I honestly have nothing to say to you, I'm not the one you need to be speaking to. You had a total melt down last night on someone you call your best friend, because you're jealous that Will treats Olivia the way you've always wanted him to treat you" Char paused at that moment as she waited for Lizzie to react, but when she said nothing she continued.

"You need to find her and apologize" and with that Charlotte stood and left the table.

Lizzie felt like she was fighting a losing battle, no matter which way she turned no one understood how she felt and at this point she wasn't sure if she understood herself. All she could think about was how she and Will had spent their entire lives doing two things: arguing and avoiding each other, and for a while Lizzie was okay with that because it gave her an excuse to constantly be angry with him and the more she concentrated on being angry with him, the easier it was to ignore her pounding heart at the site of his piercing blue eyes. The thought of Will possibly having feelings for her the way everyone said he did, terrified Lizzie because it meant she then had to address her own feelings for him and she wasn't ready to do that.

Lizzie decided the best way to catch Olivia was to catch her at work at the library. Lizzie found her staking books in the science fiction section.

"hey Liv" Lizzie said waving awkwardly, Olivia snapped her head in Lizzie's direction when she recognized the voice.

"Hey" she replied flatly

"Could we maybe sit somewhere and talk…. Please" Lizzie asked, Olivia paused to think for a moment

"Uh, yeah sure let's sit here" she said as she had a seat at the table in front of them. Lizzie took the seat directly in front of her.

"Liv, I came here today to apologize" she started "I've been frustrated about your relationship with Will from the start and I wasn't honest with you or myself about it, and you being at the house last night was just an unexpected reminder that I won't ever have that kind of relationship with him" Lizzie admitted

"Lizzie, you really hurt me last night, Will could never come between us, but I'm tired of being in the middle of this… this thing you two have, I've been trying to tell Will for months to just tell you truth because"

"Wait, tell me the truth?" Lizzie said cutting her off

"The truth that he's in love with you, and he did last night, the worst possible timing" Olivia said rolling her eyes. A light bulb went off in Lizzie's head, her blood began to boil.

"so you've known for sure that he has feelings for me, and you said nothing!" Lizzie yelled, "shush!" whispered the librarian that appeared from nowhere. Olivia was dumbfounded, she wasn't expecting that reaction. She had honestly never considered how Lizzie would feel if she found out that she had known about Will's feelings for her.

"So you've been lying to me this entire time!?" Lizzie asked

"I didn't lie about anything!" Liv defended

"So when I asked why you guys stopped dating &amp; you said that you decided to 'just be friends' what exactly do you call that, Olivia!?" Lizzie was trying hard to keep her composure but she felt like she would explode at any moment.

"I call that the truth, that was the reason we stopped dating" Olivia explained

"so when he told you how he felt you didn't think that was something to share with me? Someone you call your best friend"

"Lizzie it wasn't my secret to share" Olivia told her simply. Olivia didn't exactly feel bad for not telling Lizzie that Will was in love with her, because she knew that she would have just dismissed the idea as nonsense.

"So you decided that protecting his feelings was more important than me!? Thanks for being such an amazing friend Olivia" and before Liv had a chance to answer, Lizzie stood from her seat and walked away.

Lizzie was seething with anger she couldn't believe Olivia had been lying to her this whole time! It was one thing for everyone else to assume that Will had feelings for her, but it was another for Liv to know for sure and not say anything! She felt totally betrayed! How could she take his side over hers!? Lizzie was so angry she wanted March straight to the Darcy mansion and give Will a piece of her mind! And without meaning to she began walking in the direction of the mansion and before she knew it she was at the gate, Lizzie had no idea what she wanted to say or if Will was even home but she knew wanted to yell at him! Lizzie pounded on the front door and was greeted by a confused Gigi "hey Lizzie, what are you doing here"

"Where is your stupid brother!?" Lizzie asked, Gigi was startled she had never known Lizzie to want to continue an argument the next day.

"He isn't here I haven't seen him all day" she told her

"fine, I'll just wait for him then" Lizzie said brushing past Gigi.

"Well I don't know where he is Lizzie, I don't even know if he's in San Francisco" Gigi explained. Lizzie wasn't listening she just wanted to say what she had to say to his face and she wanted to do it now and she didn't care if she had to wait all night to do so!

Lizzie was storming through the house headed straight for the kitchen because she knew wherever Will was when he returned he was going to try to sneak in through that door. Gigi was following behind Lizzie trying to figure out what had her so upset.

"Lizzie what the heck is wrong with you!" Gigi asked sprinting to catch up to her, then suddenly Lizzie whirled around startling her.

"your brother is nothing but liar! And I want to give him a piece of my mind!" she yelled. Gigi was so confused she was beginning to get a headache.

"what are you talking about Lizzie!?" Gigi asked

"I'm talking about the fact that your brother has convinced my best friend to lie to me! Why does everyone around me think that Will is only person with feelings? No one ever considers the way I feel!" Lizzie said as tears began welling in her eyes. Gigi was starting to get the picture she didn't need Lizzie to go into detail, she knew Lizzie just needed someone to understand, and Gigi simply wrapped her arms around Lizzie.

"how do you feel, Lizzie?" Gigi asked as she squeezed her tight.

"confused" Lizzie replied

Will decided that it was better to go home sooner than later before he lost his nerve and chickened out of telling Lizzie the truth about how he truly feels for her. Once Will was back on the private jet he began practicing what he wanted to say Lizzie. He began writing down everything he'd ever wanted to say to her, but nothing sound right and he was beginning to think maybe he shouldn't say anything at all. _This is way too hard! I can't tell Elizabeth that I have feelings for her she's going to rip my heart out…. Literally _ he thought; Will remembered what Becca told him, that his words should come from his heart but what was in his heart was too scary to ever admit out loud to himself let alone Lizzie. As the driver pulled up to the gates of his home Will felt very uneasy, he knew he was in for an ear full from his sister for not telling her where he was going. Will figured it was best to sneak in through the kitchen door, but as he walked in he wasn't exactly surprised to find his sister sitting on the island counter.

"uhh, hey Gigi" Will greeted awkwardly. Gigi was sitting Indian style looking at her phone screen when her head suddenly popped up in her brothers direction.

"Hey! Thank God you're home" she said excitedly hoping fro the counter to hug her brother.

"Now Will listen before you go upstairs"

"I know, I know I should have called l but I just needed some alone time" he said cutting her off as he quickly headed towards the staircase. Gigi followed behind Will trying to warn him.

"ok fine but that's not what"

"why is it so quiet, where's mom and dad?" Will asked cutting her off again. She ignored his question, he was getting closer to his private bathroom which led to his bed room.

"Will would you listen to me for a second!" she shouted in a whisper

"Gi, let me settle in then we can talk all you want" he said as he entered the bathroom closing the door behind him and in his sisters face. Gigi threw her hands up in frustration of her brother "fine he can deal with her on his own" she said heading towards the stairs. Will just wanted to shower and clear his mind while he tried to figure out the best way to approach Lizzie, _I'm sure she's in no mood to see me let alone talk, how am I going to do this_ he thought as he undressed and entered the shower. As Will let the hot water run over his head, he couldn't help thinking of all the reasons he shouldn't tell Lizzie the truth about the way he feels. No matter what scenario he imagined in his mind it always ended in disaster. As Will stepped out of the shower and wrapped his towel around his waist he heard shuffling in his bedroom _she just won't give up, will she? _Will thought making his way though the door connected to his bedroom.

"Georgiana, I thought I said let me settle" Will stopped in his tracks when he realized it wasn't his sister in his room.

"Elizabeth, what are you doing here?" Will practically shrieked. Lizzie's chocolate brown hair flung over her shoulder as she looked up him, and her eyes grew huge at the site of Will's current state. Of all the scenarios he could have thought of, Lizzie sitting on his bed while he stood in front of her in only his towel hadn't been on the list.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 20

Lizzie had been sitting on Will's bed for at least 45 minutes and she was willing to sleep there all night if that's what it took for she and Will to talk. Gigi had tried to convince her to leave and cool off before she spoke to Will but Lizzie had no patience for that, she needed to speak her mind while the thoughts and feelings were still fresh. As Lizzie sat there in Will's room she realized she'd never been in there; she stood from the bed and looked around the room _ehh what the heck _she thought and decided to explore the room, She immediately went to the huge walk-in closet which was connected to the bathroom, when she walked in she stood there her with for a moment and breathed in the familiar woodsy tones of his cologne she could almost see him standing in front of his stone face and poised stance and his one fidgeting hand that let her know just how uncomfortable he was to be in her presence. Williams closet was just as Lizzie had imagined, completely organized, color coordinated shirts, separate sections for casual shoes and dress shoes, Lizzie chuckled to herself _how can someone so young be such an old man _she thought. Lizzie walked back into Will's room and looked around she was getting restless and decided she needed a book to read, knowing that Will was also a book reader she knew he'd have a collection somewhere in this room, there was another closet next to his master bed that Lizzie was sure would have books. When she opened the door of the closet she was absolutely right there was book case with tons of books to read and boxes at the bottom filled with what looked like a few old school note books; Lizzie bent down to look through the box and the first book she came across was a little blue book with Williams initials written in gold, Lizzie had a pretty good idea of what this must be and she couldn't stop herself opening the journal. The first page was dated back to their 7th grade year, which made Lizzie giggle as she walked back to bed to read the page.

_Dear dumb journal,_

_Mom says that I have to write in this thing because I don't express my feelings as often as I should and that if I'm not going to talk to someone I should at least write it down. So here goes nothing I guess, my name is William F. Darcy and I just turned thirteen years old yesterday. I had a bowling party and it was terrible._

Lizzie remembered that party it was actually one of the few times she'd had fun while Will was around, wonder what made it horrible? She continued to read to find out.

_Why was it terrible you may ask? Because I have a crush on this girl named Julie baker, my best friend Charlie invited her even though I told him not to because I have no idea how to talk to girls. _

Lizzie also remembered Julie baker, she was sooo obnoxious, she sat next to Will in class and would constantly ask him to borrow a pencil! And Will would always give one to her with the goofiest grin Lizzie had ever seen! Lizzie couldn't stand the sight of it.

_Anyway the night was terrible not because of Julie, but because my mom invited the Bennett sisters, Jane and Lydia are alright but Elizabeth Annabelle Bennett drives me insane! She smeared my own birthday cake in my face right in front of Julie! I hate that girl! I'm pretty sure my cousin Richard told Elizabeth that I like Julie and that's why she made it her mission to embarrass me! I'll never understand why she hates me so much; see we've been arguing since the second grade but I don't even remember what for!? Elizabeth finds something new everyday to be angry with me about. Anyway that's all I have for now I guess I do sorta feel better. _

Lizzie knew she had no right getting upset over something that happened years ago, but she remembered that Richard had told her that Will had a crush on Julie Baker, his exact words had been "hey Lizzie, Will totally has the hots for Julie doesn't it make you jealous that she's stealing your man!?" he was taunting her! Lizzie remembered looking in Will's direction as he and Charlie walked over to where Julie was sitting and Will asked if she'd like to join the game. Lizzie couldn't even remember why she'd smeared the cake in his face, she just remembered feeling annoyed at the sight of Will and Julie and how satisfied she'd felt when Julie along with everyone else laughed at his cake covered face. Lizzie continued flipping the pages of the journal, reading only a few lines of some pages one entry read

_Dear journal,_

_I figured out that Elizabeth and I like of the same books….. it kinda made me feel weird. _

Lizzie smiled at that, Will had been reading one of Lizzie's favorites a book called 'naughts &amp; crosses' the story of star-crossed teenagers from different sides of town that fell in love. It had been one of the few times that they'd had a somewhat normal debate they had really bonded that day. She continued reading a few more pages.

_Dear journal,_

_Elizabeth and I were sent to the principals office for arguing again, she told the entire class That middle name is Fitzwilliam! _

_Dear journal, _

_I hate to admit it….. but I have a huge crush on Elizabeth, but I don't know why or how it even happened! I just know I have to put a stop to it!_

Lizzie's heart skipped a beat as she read that line over and over. She couldn't believe that everyone had been right this entire time. And as usual she had no idea what to make of it.

"Elizabeth what are you doing here!?" a harsh voice said to her; Lizzie's head spun in the direction of the voice and she was mortified to find that Will was standing in front her with dripping wet hair in nothing but a towel. Lizzie's cheeks were on fire and she knew Will could see that she'd turned into a tomato. Lizzie realized Will was waiting for an answer but Lizzie had honestly forgotten why she was there in the first place!

So she said the only thing she could think of

"Well, when did you get here!?" she asked in what she hoped sounded like confidence.

"Elizabeth, this is my bedroom" he said more calmly, Lizzie tried to match Williams stone face.

"I uhh, wanted to talk to you" Lizzie said with her head turned away from Will, it wasn't safe to look at him right now he was basically naked and she couldn't very well stare at his bare muscles as the beads of water dried on his skin and she certainly couldn't look him in the eyes because then he'd do that weird stare into your soul thing he does.

" Elizabeth I can't hear what you're saying" Will said still speaking very calmly.

"I said I want to talk to you! But I need you put some clothes on first!" she yelled, now Will turned red as he realized what he looked like in front of her, he quickly backed into the closet and slipped into a t-shirt and sweat pants. Lizzie stood on the opposite side of the bed trying to collect herself, she had been in his bedroom so long she'd totally forgotten why she was there! What did she want to day to him!?

"Why do you have my journal, Elizabeth?" Will asked reappearing in the door way.

"you're asking a lot of questions Darcy" Lizzie said wavy the book in her hand

"And you're not answering them, Elizabeth" Will was stone faced and as usual Lizzie couldn't read him.

"I came here because I want the truth, because everyone seems to know but me" Lizzie said and for the first Lizzie watched an emotion wash over Will's face, panic.

"the truth about what?" he asked trying to remain calm

"about what's in this journal, about Olivia and how you convinced everyone around me to lie to me"

"I never convinced anyone to do to anything!" he defended

"oh really? Then why does Olivia know things that I don't?" Will didn't really need to ask what she meant by that.

"because we're friends Elizabeth, and I trust Liv why does that make you so jealous?"

"I'm not jealous of anything, I'm pissed off at the fact the two of you have bonded over a secret about me! About the fact that you've made the most effort I've ever seen from you in 6 months than you've shown me in a lifetime!" Lizzie yelled, all the anger she felt when she arrived at the house had come rushing back.

" Elizabeth, I don't know what you want me to say here!" Will shot back

"I want you for once I your Darcy-bot life to tell me truth!" Lizzie yelled again as she threw the journal she had been holding on the bed. Will looked from the journal back to Lizzie's face.

"fine you want the truth! Yes, Elizabeth I am in love with you! I've been in love with you before I knew that I had those feelings for you! You've been making me feel uncomfortable and embarrassed my whole life, and no matter what I've done the feelings don't go away. For the past 12 years you've done nothing but remind me of what an idiot I am for feeling the way that I do and that I could never tell you any of this!" Williams heart was beating out of his chest and his ears were ringing he couldn't believe what he'd just said. Lizzie there with her eyes blazing with anger.

"so yet again this all my fault right!? You've been lying to me this entire time but it's my fault!?"

" I never lied to you!"

"so how come you didn't tell me any of this before now!? Why would you tell my best friend!?"

" Elizabeth what would you have said if I had told you this years ago? You would have done exactly what you always have, turn it around and find some reason to be angry at me for it!" Will sat his bed and ran his fingers through his dark curls. Lizzie walked around the bed so that she was facing him again.

" I never wanted you to find out this way….. or at all if I'm being honest" Will said with his hands covering his face

" it's nor fair for you and everyone else to just assume my reaction" Lizzie said a little more calmly

"well now you know the truth… I'm sorry that I have feelings for you, I just want to forget this entire thing" Will said finally meeting her eyes and standing in front of her. Will was standing so close she could smell his shower gel. Lizzie was speechless she didn't know what to say anymore, he was watching her as she tucked her hair behind her ear and she began biting her lip the way she always does when she's nervous. She was looking done and Will heard a sniffle, and without thinking he gently lifted her chin to meet his eyes, her eyes were filled with tears.

"we can't just forget about it…. I cant forget about it" she said as a single year fell from her eye; embarrassed of her tears she tried to look away but Will just grabbed he face again and he continued to look deep into her eyes in that way that always made Lizzie uncomfortable and the tears flowed freely.

"I don't know how I feel about any of this" she confessed, Will took his thumbs and wiped away her tears. And as he gently touched her skin the continued to stare at each other with wonder and confusion between them, and without a single thought Will began to close the space between and Lizzie didn't stop him. Will placed the gentlest kiss on her lips and her entire body reacted, her ears burned, her legs trembled, and her hands tingled as they moved from her side into his messy hair as she pulled him in closer deepening the kiss, Will's hands fell from her faced to wrap around her small waist and as their bodies became one Lizzie took that opportunity to taste his bottom lip more fully. She ran her tongue across it, tasting him, and Lizzie could feel her body buckling as Will moaned at the base of his throat. Lizzie's mind felt as though it had traveled to a distant land and she was watching this scene from someplace else. Will's large hands squeezed her waist and as Lizzie opened her mouth to make a sound she didn't know was possible, Will suddenly began to pull away from her, realizing this Lizzie released his hair. They had each stepped so apart they as well have been on opposite sides of the room again. Lizzie didn't want to look at him, she didn't want him to see the desire she knew was apparent in her eyes. She wished she wasn't breathing like she had just run a marathon, she wished she had something witty to say instead of standing there licking her swollen lips in hesitation and shock. She had just kissed William F. Darcy! The guy she had sworn to hate for as long she lived, Lizzie needed to get out of there fast!

"I should really get going, it's late and I'm sure my family is worried about me" she babbled power walking towards the bedroom door, Will reached out and genteelly grabbed her arm, Lizzie continued to look away from him.

"Let me drive you home, Elizabeth" his gruff voice sent made the arm he was holding tingle.

"No Will I'll walk its fine" she replied as pulled away from him and ran from the room. Lizzie was glad that Gigi hadn't been in the kitchen when she left the house she didn't want to talk about anything yet. Lizzie had come to Darcy estate to get clarity and left feeling more confused than ever before.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey guys! I'm back! We are coming almost to the close of this story and getting ready for the sequel. I would like to thank Julie for her nonstop request for me to continue this story it lets me know you guys are really enjoying it lol. So without too much chatter here's chapter 21**

Chapter 21

Will watched Lizzie walk out of his bedroom, it took everything in him not stop her and kiss her again. He crashed on the bed breathing heavily.

"Fitz, you cannot leave me hanging like this, the suspense is killing me!" Gigi said dramatically from the door way of his closet. Will rolled off the bed and stood in front of his sister.

"Georgiana I could kill you right now! How could you not tell me she was here!?" he yelled

"Don't take that tone with me, William! I was trying to tell you but you were trying so hard to escape me you wouldn't let me get it out!" Gigi shot back

"Well it should have been the first thing you said!" Will said stubbornly folding his arms.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah so what happened?" dismissing her brother's pout and clapping her hands with excitement. Will immediately began to blush as he remembered touching Lizzie. Gigi's gave her brother the biggest smile seeing his tomato face.

"Wellllllll" she said beaming "did she tell you that she loves you too?" to Gigi's surprise her brother laughed

"Of course she didn't say that Gi" Will's laughter was met with confusion.

"So then why are you laughing?"

"Because Gi, I did something I never in a million years thought I'd do….. And I don't feel as horrible as I always thought I would, I mean sure I feel confused, anxious and slightly terrified…but I think I could maybe be ok" he explained

"What did you say?"

"I told her the truth that I love her and I always have" Will said getting goosebumps remembering his own words.

"What did she say?" Gigi's green eyes lit up waiting for her brother to answer.

"She yelled at me like I knew she would…. Then she said she was confused… and I kind of kissed her" as he finished, Gigi's mouth practically fell to the floor.

"You did what?!" she couldn't believe her brother would ever be so bold. Will's face turned the brightest shade of red,

"I have no idea what came over me Gi! We were arguing and she started biting her lip…" Will trailed off remembering the look Lizzie had given him and the thought made him grin devilishly. Georgiana couldn't believe her brother.

"So you're ok with Lizzie not being honest about her feelings for you?"

"Well I'm still processing everything… but I think I will be, I know Elizabeth felt something tonight but I won't force things. Even if she never says that she feels the same way" Will stated with certainty. Will had honestly never felt more content, he was in love with her, but he remembered what Becca had told him, he needed to be honest with Lizzie for himself not for her and he finally understood why; Will had spent his entire life in denial of his feelings for Lizzie and when he finally admitted it to himself he spent the rest of the time fearing the outcome if he ever told her the truth, but now the truth had been told and he could finally stop fearing the outcome and move on.

"So now what happens?" Gigi asked

"I'm not sure…" Will admitted

Lizzie couldn't remember how she'd gotten home, she was sure she had floated there. She opened her bedroom door to find both her sisters sitting on her bed, Lizzie slowly entered the room wondering why they were in her room.

"Where have you been?" Lydia greeted, Lizzie was caught off guard by the question she wasn't really sure if she wanted to tell her sisters about Will, so naturally she heard herself say

"I kissed Will…." Lizzie said closing the door and leaning against it. Her sisters stared at her in silence they couldn't believe what they had just heard.

"You're kidding!?" Lydia almost screamed covering her mouth with her hand. Lizzie simply shook her head "no" as she slid down the wall to floor &amp; ran her fingers through her curls.

"Well did he tell you that he has feelings for you" Jane finally asked. Lizzie still felt her head spinning as she remembered Williams words 'I'm in love with you Elizabeth, I've been in love with you before I knew what those feelings were'. Lizzie couldn't really form the words for her sisters, all she could do was nod her head "yes"

"Did you tell him you feel the same way?" Lydia asked. Lizzie looked up at her sister

"Of course I didn't say that!" Lizzie replied in disbelief

"Well why not!?" Lydia asked matching her sister's tone

"Look, will you guys just listen to me for once; William Darcy and I have never been friends. I don't even know how he believes he has those feelings for me. We can't even have a decent conversation without him breaking into a sweat and looking for the nearest exit, so how can that form any kind of feelings of love!?" Lizzie wanted for someone to understand her for once. Lizzie could admit to herself that she had crush on Will when they were younger, but Will has gone out his way to avoid her for years and now she's supposed to believe that the reason was because he was in love with her!? How does that even make sense? Jane moved towards where Lizzie was sitting by the door and sat in front of her and took her hands in her own and squeezed them tight.

"Lizzie I want you to close your eyes, and think of all the moments you've spent around Will. His nervous jitters, staring at you when he thought no one watched him, the way he would constantly try to strike up conversation about books with you, Lizzie he's always been head over heels for you but you were always too stubborn to see it" Lizzie closed her eyes and thought of all the times she had caught Will starring at her, before she ever looked in his direction she could always feel his intensely serious eyes watching her every move. Lizzie always felt self-conscious when she felt his eyes on her _why is he staring at me!? _Her mind would scream _is there something in my teeth? Toilet paper on my shoe? What!?_ She would always wonder why he even wanted to look at her at all; and finally she decided that he only did it to annoy her, not once did she ever think there could be something more. She thought about the summer just before 7th grade Lizzie had spent all her time reading the _Hunger Games _series, one day while at Darcy estate Lizzie found a quiet spot under a tree and had been reading for hours, she hadn't even noticed Will walking in her direction with the same book in his hand. When they finally noticed each other Lizzie had been startled by his Presence and Will's constantly stone face flashed a bit of fear.

"I, I …. Uhh didn't know anyone else was out here… I'll just…. Umm leave" Will had said quickly turning to leave, Lizzie figured this must be where he came to when he was hiding from everyone. She couldn't very well kick him out of his own reading spot.

"What chapter are you reading?" she called out to him, Will stopped abruptly and turned back to her very slowly his cheeks were bright.

"I'm reading chapter 12….." he said slowly. Lizzie stood and walked closer to him

"I'm reading chapter 12 too….. maybe we could read together" Lizzie suggested, too nervous to speak Will nodded his agreement and they walked towards the huge tree. It was the first time in a long time that the pair had been around one another without bickering. Lizzie had always known Will to be quiet he never had much to say if they weren't arguing, but as they sat underneath the tree Will talked about his favorite characters, his favorite parts of the book and how excited he was that there would a live action movie. Lizzie had never seen Will so animated, then as he continued to talk about his excitement to see the movie he said "maybe we could see it together!" he suggested with excitement, and as quickly as the words left his lips he turned red again and added "I just meant…. Because uhh, we're both reading the book….." Lizzie didn't know how to respond to his suggestion and sat there quietly looking at him and without another word Will stood and practically ran away.

Lizzie was brought back to the present with her sister's hands still in hers she opened her eyes.

"You guys… even if Will does believe he has feelings for me…. I don't know that I feel the same way." Lizzie explained. Lydia then came closer so that both she and Jane were facing Lizzie.

"Lizzie would you stop being so darn stubborn for once!? Will is in love with you, he told you so himself! You didn't tell him that you felt the same, but you kissed him how long do you think you can play with someone like that before they decide they're done?" Lydia asked

"I'm not playing with him…. I don't even know how we kissed… or why I kissed him…. I just need some time to think about all of this, it's a lot to take in at once" Lizzies head was spinning and she just wanted to be alone with her thoughts.

"You guys, I'm going to bed" Lizzie said signaling for her sisters to leave the room.

"OK we'll leave you to think, good night Lizzie bear" Jane said leaving the room with Lydia in toe.

Lizzie had no idea how she would face Will now; they're argument reminded Lizzie of how clueless and robotic Will could be, but their kiss awakened a new feeling that she had never thought of before. Kissing Will had felt like a dream she never wanted to awaken from. The way he held her body and kissed her ever so gently made Lizzie feel like maybe he was in love with her and the way her heart pounded and her longing for another kiss made her feel like maybe she was in love with him too.

Will had been staring at the ceiling for hours when his mother knocked on the door.

"come in" Will called out without a single movement. As Mrs. Darcy came into the room her son never took his eyes off the ceiling so she laid down on the bed next to him and looked up at the ceiling too.

"I'm in love with her mom…. No matter what I've done it just won't go away" Will said still never taking his eyes off ceiling.

"now why would you want it to go away?" Mrs. Darcy asked

"I told her how I feel and she yelled at me, how could I be in love with someone like her!? I just don't get it!" the confusion Will felt was overwhelming.

"have you ever asked yourself why you love her?" she asked simply. Will finally turned his head to look at his mother, she always knew just what to say to make him really think about things. He was quiet as he thought about her question. When he finally spoke he said the only thing that came to him.

"I love everything about her…" he said " I love how smart she is, I love that she's never been afraid to be herself, that she always speaks her mind, and when she forgets that she can't stand me, she gives me the most perfect smile I've ever seen" Will had never considered all the reasons he had feelings for Lizzie he just knew that she made his heart pound whenever she was near. Mrs. Darcy never thought her son would be so willing to finally speak the truth about his feeling for little Lizzie Bennett.

"so why would you want those feelings to go away?" she asked

"because she hates me mom! She's been saying so since we were 8!" he said in frustration.

" Fitz, do you want to know something? Lizzie doesn't hate you, I doubt she even dislikes you, the problem with you two is that you've spent the last several years hiding from her and your feelings for her. In her mind she's just been reciprocating the energy you've been giving her. And maybe now its time to start a new chapter in your relationship with her, one where the two of you make a genuine effort to get to know one another" Mrs. Darcy watched her son's face as he thought about what she'd said.

"But what if she doesn't want to get to know me… what if she never wants to see me again after tonight?" Will asked as more worst case scenario's popped into his mind.

"Well honey… there's always a risk in love" and with that Mrs. Darcy stood and left the room leaving her son with quizzical brow.


End file.
